Notwithstanding the economic recession in the post-demonetization phase, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley insisted that economic reforms would continue unabated in the overall interest of the country.

Speaking at an awards-ceremony of a popular economic journal, Jaitley said that the BJP-led Centre needed to travel further on the path of economic reforms.  “We have to journey for some more time in order to transform the basic infrastructure for the good and betterment of the people.  At times, the pace of reforms might appear slow but the path
treaded by us is very clear and it’s a never-ending journey.

“Thanks to implementation of GST, the Centre’s revenue has increased. Earlier, our Banks were on a loan-giving spree.  It was only around 2015 that they realized that their bad debts had gone beyond comprehensible limits.  Our nation can become stronger economically only when our banking system remains transparent.

“Measures such as ushering in demonetization and providing financial assistance to Banks are bold initiatives which are bound to strengthen the economy further.  As such, there is no going back on these reforms which are never-ending,” Jaitley said in the backdrop of criticism of his moves by his predecessors Yashwant Sinha and veteran Congress leader P. Chidambaram.