Let us acknowledge one fact straight up that elected leaders never take an economic decision without considering its political ramifications first. Now we must acknowledge that politically, demonetisation was a roaring success for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, even as it was bad economics.

That last statement goes against the grain of what the October-December quarter gross domestic product data showed. However, a number of economists believe that there will be a downward revision to the seven per cent headline figure as the informal sector is never properly ...