Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee meets PM Modi at his residence

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning. He met the Prime Minister at his residence in New Delhi. Banerjee is in India to promote his book 'Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems', co-written with fellow Nobel laureate and wife Esther Duflo.

PM Modi said that they had a healthy discussion on a variety of issues and wished the Nobel laureate luck for his future endeavours. "Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours," he said.

Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/SQFTYgXyBX

- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 22, 2019

Indian-American Banerjee, who jointly won the 2019 Nobel Economics Prize with his wife Duflo and Harvard's Michael Kremer had recently said that the Indian economy was  "doing very badly" while addressing a press conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after winning the prize.

Banerjee in his recent interviews has advised increasing taxes for the rich and making cash available for the poor to boost consumption.

Also Read: Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee explains why people voted for PM Modi

The Nobel laureate's meeting with PM Modi holds significance against the backdrop of his criticisms of economic policies of the Modi government.

Banerjee has been very vocal about demonetisation. He had criticised the move adding that the pinch would be far greater than what was initially anticipated.

Also watch: Banerjee shares views on Modi govt, poverty and taxing rich

"First, there was the potential cost of a massive liquidity crunch, in which the volume or number of economic transactions reduces due to insufficient cash holdings. The brunt of this cost was borne by the informal sector, where 85% or more of the Indian labour force is employed, as transactions here have been traditionally carried out in cash," Banerjee had said in a paper jointly authored with Harvard University's Namrata Kala.

Banerjee who is a noted professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US has been awarded the Nobel Prize (2019) for his efforts to alleviate global poyverty. He has won the award along with his wife Duflo and Kremer for their "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty."

Also Watch: Why Nobel winner Abhijit Banerjee thinks Indian economy is doing bad