Santosh Kumar Gangwar (left), seen here with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (File)
Opining that cashless transactions will be an effective way to achieve transparency, Union Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said that the government never talked about going 100 per cent cashless. The minister added that even if a fifth of all financial transactions were to take place without cash, it would be a big achievement.
"There is a facility of cashless transactions in many countries. We never said we will go 100 per cent cashless. But even if we achieve 15-20 per cent in going cashless, it will be a big achievement because it's transparent and effective," the Minister told Press Trust of India.
When asked about arguments put forth by economists that demonetization would have an adverse effect on the economy, Mr Gangwar said, "I don't speak on some economists' views. I speak for the government. This decision has been taken by the government to fight corruption and black money."
(With inputs from PTI)