India has the capacity to fully implement the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as it no longer has a “fragile economy”, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday. Jaitley said the Centre’s decision to discontinue the high-value notes was a courageous one and that the move would have long-term benefits for the country despite some “short term pain”, NDTV reported.

The re-monetisation process will soon be completed as the Reserve Bank of India is supplying liquidity to the economy, Jaitley said. “Once re-monetisation is complete and makes [a] substantial headway it will mark [the] creation of [a] new Indian normal,” he said at the 89th annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

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“One needs clarity, courage, broad shoulders and the stamina to take such decisions,” he said, according to The Hindu. He added that the cash-dominated economy had become “unacceptable” because of reasons including a high-cash-to-Gross Domestic Product ratio and tax evasion. There has been a 100%-1000% rise in the use of digital methods of payments, he added.

Referring to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, Jaitley said the levy was a “transactional tax” that could be implemented at any time of the year, PTI reported. “Constitutional necessity” requires the GST to be rolled out between April 1, 2017, and September 16, 2017, said the finance minister. “Hopefully, the earlier we do, the better it is for the new taxation system.” The April 1, 2017, deadline for the roll out of the tax now looks unlikely as the Centre and states failing to resolve outstanding matters such as the dual control of assessees.

Jaitley’s remarks at the gathering of industry leaders comes as part of the government’s move to promote demonetisation as a positive step for the Indian economy. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that demonetisation should have been done years ago. He said that a digital economy should be transparent, effective and a “way of life”. The prime minister had also criticised his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, of doing “nothing during his 10 years” to curb black money.

However, the removal of liquidity from the Indian economy has faced sharp criticism from economists and Opposition parties. Economic productivity has also been affected by the move, and disruptions by Opposition parties in both Houses of Parliament led to a complete washout of the Winter Session.