Demonetisation of currency notes had created ripples, not only in life of people in India but in International media as well.
The Washington Post, hailed Modi’s drive, as it wrote: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long made fighting black money a priority — as the country moves to legitimize its shadow economy, change an age-old culture of corruption and attract foreign investment. A voluntary disclosure program has netted $19 billion, a fraction of the estimated $400 billion to more than $1 trillion in black money.”
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Sydney Morning Herald, hailed the Indian PM as,”an attempt to fulfil his election promise of curbing tax evasion and recovering illegal income, locally known as black money, stashed overseas.”
The Independent while comparing PM Modi to Lee Kuan Yew wrote, “Government leaders feel that the sudden move by the Indian Prime Minister has brought new found respect for him. A senior Indian government official even equated Mr Modi to Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Modi’s admiration for Mr Lee is of course no secret. When Mr Lee passed away in March last year, Mr Modi in leading the tributes and condolences pouring in from all over India, acknowledged Mr Lee Kuan Yew a “lion among leaders.”
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The New york Times, responded, “The plan, kept top secret until Mr. Modi’s announcement, was hailed by financial analysts as bold and, potentially, transformational for India. It is also a high-stakes experiment: Though other Indian leaders have withdrawn currency notes, none have reduced the country’s supply of cash so drastically or so abruptly. The two bills being withdrawn make up 80 per cent of the cash in circulation.”
There were also reports of Pakistani news anchors discussing the issue and praising PM Modi’s move.
Wall Street Journal gave the positive tax increase repercussions as well as slowing of Indian economy, “If the reforms work, in theory it could broaden the government’s tax base. And any money that doesn’t get redeemed, the government can reissue and spend as it pleases without increasing the money supply. Indian government bonds, a favorite among emerging-market investors, have rallied since the announcement. That may be a bet the reforms will work. But it could also be a bet that India’s economy is about to slow. It could take Mr. Modi’s plan a while to come together.”
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In an article published in leading American financial journal Bloomberg, Swiss global financial services company UBS Group AG said that Australia should follow India’s lead and scrap its biggest bank notes.
Forbes published an article titled “India’s Great Bank Note Switch Appears To Be Working – $30 Billion In Rs Deposited In Banks.” The article acknowledges that a move of this magnitude would result in “obvious chaos”, but also states that “so far at least it looks as if it is working.”
The BBC gave a critical response in its coverage, carrying an article, “How India’s currency ban is hurting the poor.”
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