New Delhi: 2016 has been an year of big commercial announcements which directly or indirectly have affected the common man’s pocket.  Be it surging international oil prices or a massive fall in share market, all are interrelated and directly or inversely proportional to each other. As the year comes to a close, below is a list of the most prominent commercial events of 2016.

  • Demonetisation: The Government’s order to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs1000 notes, which came on the night of November 8; has within seconds brought the entire country on the same page. The decision which was taken in order to eradicate ‘black money’ from the country and ignited a massive debate in the whole of the country. While many people lashed out at the Narendra Modi government for creating such a problem for the common man, others lauded for taking such a wise step. The move also led to digitization of the local transactions with smallest shop keepers switching to e-wallets like Paytm


 


The new Rs 2000 notes intriduced by the RBI after demonetisation announcement/ Photo: AP

  • Passing of GST bill: In a major relief to government, the Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution amendment bill to pave the way for the introduction of a pan-India Goods and Services Tax regime. With the passage of GST, Smalls cars and mini SUVs are expected to become cheaper, Consumer durables could get cheaper, FMCG products could become cheaper and even Cinema tickets could get cheaper. On the other hand, the packaged food to get expensive, clothes and ornaments will get expensive, and the entire service section would get more expensive




  • Brexit: The global markets took a huge blow from the impact of the United Kingdom voting itself to freedom from the European Union. Ever since BREXIT, the risks have increased for India. The outlook for global growth has become worse; European leaders haven’t covered themselves in glory in the way they have handled the continent’s problems; with interest rates in negative, there is a limit to how much further stimulus central banks in developed markets can give their economies 


 BREXIT, that it exit of Britain from the European Union affected the markets worldwide/ Image courtesy: AFP

  • Reliance Jio enters market: During the time when the whole world has digitized with the introduction of country’s top notch entrepreneur, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio; it turned out to be a nightmare for other service providers which had a ‘perfect competition’ like situation.  Reliance Jio extended free voice and data for its 52 million existing users till March 31, to auto-migrate to its Happy New Year offer. Also, new Reliance Jio users were given data, voice, video between December 12 and March 31. Reliance Jio crossed 50 million customers in less than 90 days of launch, which was huge!


 Mukesh Ambani addressing the stake holders, updating on Reliance Jio's latest offers and schemes/ ABP News Photo