On the first anniversary of the notes ban, former Vice Chairman Niti Aayog Arvind Panagariya defended the government’s decision as "the right step to combat corruption". Mr Panagariya, who was the key figure in PM's economic think tank, said that the "money coming back into the system has a name now" and demonetisation clearly established PM Modi's resolve to "fight black money". Reacting to the remarks made by former PM Manmohan Singh that demonetisation was organised loot, Mr Panagariya said that the former PM "did not have his economist hat on while saying such things". The former Niti Aayog vice chairman also said that some slump in the growth was anticipated, however, Manmohan Singh's prediction of "2% drop on annual basis" has not come true.
