A day after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed that no country in the world has undertaken demonetisation on such a large-scale without triggering social unrest, China is tossing a question: What if the country had demonetised high-currency yuan notes?
The consequences are difficult to imagine, wrote the Global Times, China's state-run publication in an editorial that appeared on Saturday.
"We cannot imagine what would happen in China if the country bans its 50- and 100-yuan notes," the Global Times wrote.
PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation decision is a big risk and would be remembered, irrespective of the fallout.
"Demonetisation is a gamble for Modi. He bet on both the execution ability of the government and the tolerance level of the Indian society, hoping that the benefits of this reform can outrun the negative social impacts and low morale. The Western-style democratic system of India allows little room for such bold moves. However, he is really carrying it out, and will create a precedent no matter he succeeds or fails," the editorial said.
The publication claimed that Indians are increasingly feeling less convinced about handling the post-demonetisation fallout, while raising doubts about the decision in the first place.
"Modi's demonetisation came with good intention but whether it can succeed depends on the efficiency of the system and the cooperation of the entire society. More and more people are growing pessimistic about the ability of Modi's government to control the process," the Global Times said.
In an interview to an Indian news channel on Saturday evening, Jaitley strongly defended the government's decision and dismissed opposition charges of mismanagement of the situation.
In March this year, an analyst wrote in the Global Times that Modi's economic reforms were unlikely to wean away global investors from China.
"Since he came into office as Prime Minister, Modi has boosted the morale of the Indian economy. However, Modi's economic reform has achieved little progress, which is known in the international community," wrote Liu Zongyi, senior fellow at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies and a visiting fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.
"The Indian market, be it in scale, profit margin or business environment, cannot compete with that of China," he added.
