- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Government Working on Next COVID-Stimulus to Support Economy - India's Economic Affairs Secretary

© AP Photo / Rajesh Kumar SinghA woman and a child wait to give their nasal swab samples to test for COVID-19 at a government hospital in Unchahar, Raebareli district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020.
A woman and a child wait to give their nasal swab samples to test for COVID-19 at a government hospital in Unchahar, Raebareli district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The Indian government has announced two economic stimuli since March when a national lockdown was imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, the government has doled out stimuli worth $298.64 billion. India’s central bank has also pumped in $125 billion liquidity since February to maintain stability in the financial market.

The Narendra Modi-led government is likely to announce another set of COVID stimulus measures, a top official of the Indian Finance Ministry revealed on Wednesday. It will be the third stimulus since the Covid-19 pandemic hit India this year.

Tarun Bajaj, the Secretary in the Department of Economic Services, said: “We are working on a stimulus package to support the economy.”

Even though Bajaj did not reveal when this package will be announced, a source in the finance ministry told Sputnik that the stimulus may be announced ahead of Diwali – the festival of lights – which is to be celebrated on 14 November.

Bajaj also said that the Indian economy is “looking up a bit”, adding that it is pent-up demand which is emerging now.   

As an impact of the pandemic, the Indian economy contracted by 23.9 per cent between April and June comparison with a 3.1 per cent rise between January and March.

The first government bail-out came on 26 March as a COVID stimulus worth $26 billion, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman – a day after national lockdown was imposed in India to curb the rising cases. The relief package contained the food grain entitlement for the poor affected by the pandemic.

In May, Prime Minister Modi unveiled the first economic stimulus package, worth $266 billion, or around 10 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product. On 12 October, another set of measures worth $6.64 billion was announced to stimulate the demand in the Indian economy.

However, the recession is expected to continue in India until the end of the present financial year (2020-21), in March.

Multilateral organisations have also projected a steep contraction of the Indian economy. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said that the Indian economy will witness a contraction of 9 per cent because of the COVID-19 pandemic whereas Goldman Sachs has said India's economy will witness a 14.8 per cent contraction and India Ratings forecasts that the economy will sink by 11.80 per cent.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала