"The country's macroeconomic fundamentals are very strong, creating a platform for sustained high growth," he said.To combat the evils of black-money, corruption, counterfeit currency and terror financing, he said, "my government took the decision on November 8, 2016, to demonetise old five hundred and one thousand rupee currency notes. "The government's very first cabinet decision was to set up an SIT on black-money, he said. "Financial inclusion is key to poverty alleviation. An unprecedented 26 crore plus Jan Dhan account have been opened for the unbanked. PAHAL is the world's largest cash benefit transfer scheme that has saved over Rs 21,000 crore in two years."

Source: Economic Times January 31, 2017 07:56 UTC