Economic Affairs Secretary On GST, Digital Economy And Demonetisation

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told NDTV that he expects GST to impact GDP growth which he expects will touch 8% next fiscal. Asked about the delay in counting of cash post demonetisation, he said that counting machines were working overtime to complete the enormous exercise. There were some points where double counting was happening, he said. Has the notes ban exercise netted big black money holders? Mr Das said that 18 lakh accounts have been identified with disproportionately high deposits and that income tax department was questioning those account holders, but in a non-intrusive manner.