NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – In a televised address to the nation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the public for patience in the larger interest of eliminating counterfeit notes being introduced into circulation by a "fellow country."
The public has until December 30, 2016, to exchange the currency notes of these two denominations into smaller ones. According to some estimates, 80% of currency notes currently in circulation in India are in 500 and 1000 Rs denominations.
Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janta Party won the 2014 general elections on its agenda of wiping out black money equal to that of India’s GDP, according to some independent estimates. Modi had vowed to get back black money stashed abroad which would fetch Rs 1.5 million for each Indian. Interestingly, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu had written to Modi last month suggesting precisely such a step to wipe out black money.
