Demonetisation: Centre forms panel to boost digital economy

NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya will head the panel.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Centre has formed a panel to boost digital economy in the country.

The Committee of Officers, under the leadership of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, will identify and operationalise in the earliest possible timeframe user-friendly digital payment options in all sectors of the economy, an official statement said.

Meanwhile Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asked banks to promote digital banking in "mission mode", saying the principal objective of the government's reform is to curtail the use of physical currency.

After a meeting with heads of banks including private sector, he said a committee under Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry is being set up to promote digital banking.

Referring to the outcry over demonetisation in Parliament, Jaitley said the politicians need to accept that habits of the people are changing and they are frequently using cards for payments.

Defending the demonetisation drive, the Finance Minister said one of the principal objectives of the reform that has been undertaken by the government is that physical currency must shrink.

The economy, he added however, has to expand and the trade has to expand and therefore what shrinks has to be substituted and further expanded by the digital mode.