Note Ban & GST Broke the Back of Small Businesses: Manmohan Singh

This twin blow (GST and demonetisation) is a complete disaster for our economy, said the former Prime Minister.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Ahmedabad on 7 November.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@BharatSolankee)

Scrapping higher value currency notes was “organised loot and legalised plunder,” former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, terming the BJP-led government's demonetisation exercise as a reckless step.

None of its objectives were achieved, Singh alleged during an interactive session on the current state of the economy with businesspersons and traders in Ahmedabad on 7 November.

Hitting out at the government over the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax, Manmohan Singh alleged that compliance requirements under GST had become a nightmare for small businesses.

It’s broken the back of small and medium enterprises... I repeat what I said in the parliament, this was organised loot and legalised plunder. This twin blow (GST and note ban) is a complete disaster for our economy.

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He also criticised the Centre's ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project and dubbed it an “exercise in vanity”.

Singh's visit comes a day before Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled Surat tour on the anniversary of the government's announcement of the demonetisation exercise.

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(With inputs from PTI)