PM Narendra Modi Likely To Address The Nation On Notes Ban Before New Year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to make another address to the nation on the notes ban on December 31, sources have said. In a televised address on November 8, he had suddenly banned 500 and 1,000-rupee notes, a move aimed at eliminating corruption and black or undeclared money. A deadline for depositing old notes in bank accounts ends tomorrow, December 30.

The notes ban had taken out 86 per cent of the cash circulating in the economy at that time and a massive cash crunch has followed, disrupting daily life, with people struggling to get new currency notes and holding back on spending, except for immediate and urgent needs.

The days after the ban saw long lines at banks and ATMs as people rushed to exchange old notes for new currency over the counter. That was stopped some weeks ago, and in the middle of December the government withdrew all concessions for spending old notes at petrol pumps and other utilities.