Watch: Firstpost debates demonetisation fallout, benefits with economists

A year ago on this day (8 November), Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his decision to scrap Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes in a bid to attack black money, fake currency and terror funding. [caption id=“attachment_4199471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of queue at a bank branch. PTI[/caption]The banned notes constituted about 86 percent of the currency in circulation at that point and came as a shocker to the economy where about 80 percent of transactions depended on cash. The economy has been on a roller-coaster ride ever since with the cash crunch impacting cash-intensive sectors of the economy, particularly informal sector. On the positive side, there has been an increase in digital transactions and expansion of tax base post demonetisation. A year after demonetisation, the jury is still out whether this is a success of failure. An expert panel, consisting of Madan Sabanavis (chief economist of Care rating), Vivek Kaul (senior journalist and author), Varadaraj Bapat (Professor at Mumbai IIT) and Keshav Upadhye (BJP spokesperson, Maharashtra) debate ‘demonetisation after one year’. The discussion was moderated by Firstpost’s Financial Editor Dinesh Unnikrishnan. Watch the discussion above.