Noted economist Surjit Bhalla today came out in support of the government’s demonetisation move and expressed hope that it would lead to much-needed reforms.
“No economist would support demonetisation ex ante. I would support demonetisation ex post,” Bhalla said at a panel discussion here today.
His remarks came during the release of the book titled Evolution of Economic Ideas Smith to Sen and Beyond, written by DCM Ltd chief Vinay Bharat Ram and released by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“We have always been well below potential. We are not growing to our potential...we have lots of corruption in economy,” Bhalla added.
He also said that if demonetisation leads to reform which we have not seen before, then demonetisation would be hailed as a massive success.
Talking about tax reforms, he said the effective corporate tax rate is 24 per cent, which is still among the highest in the world.
“It is the fourth highest in the world. We live in a world where you have to be competitive” he said.