Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday was spared the blushes at the Economist India Summit, where the audience overwhelmingly voted to suggest that demonetisation had benefitted the country. He was not asked to explain statements made by the Prime Minister on Independence Day and by the former Attorney General before the Supreme Court that Rs 3 and Rs 5 lakh crore of currency had failed to return to the banks. But he stoutly maintained that while the government had not been able to eliminate black money completely, demonetisation had benefitted the government both politically and financially. But has it benefitted the average Indian? Jaitley had no answer to the googly, mumbling that what was good for the government was good for the citizen.

Here are some of the replies Jaitley gave:

Did you expect such high rate of return?

There was uncertainty following demonetisation because there was no model. It had not been tried anywhere on such a scale. There was speculation on how much money would return to the banks and it was of media interest. But it was not of great concern to us in the government. Of course, it is obvious that a large number of people found ways and means to put their unaccounted money in the banks.

But did the exercise serve its purpose?

The fallout has been on predicted lines. The money may have come back to the banks and the anonymity of the holders is no longer there. We have done a lot of data mining, the tax net has increased; digitisation of the economy, which was never at centrestage, progressed and there was 25 per cent increase in Personal Income Tax Returns.