Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil another stimulus soon to boost India's economy, informed Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj on November 3, 2020. Bajaj stated that the Finance Ministry is currently looking into suggestions and requests received from various sectors of the economy.
He said that the Ministry has received a lot of requests and comments from various sectors and we are looking into it. He assured that another stimulus will be announced soon.
The finance minister had announced a slew of measures last month to spur demand and ramp-up capital expenditure. This was the third stimulus package, which was announced since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Finance Ministry's stimulus packages since COVID-19 pandemic
1. The Union government had announced Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKP) worth Rs 1.70 lakh crore in March 2020 to protect the vulnerable sections from the impact of COVID-19 crisis.
2. The Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package worth Rs 20.97 lakh crore was announced in May, which was largely focussed on supply-side measures and long-term reforms.
After the announcement of various measures to stimulate demand by front-loading or advancing some of the expenditure last month, the finance minister had said that the option for another stimulus package had not been closed.
Rising Food Prices
Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj termed the rise in food prices as a temporary phenomenon. He said that the prices should be back to normal soon after the arrival of new crops and government measures for improving the supply of essential commodities.
Currently, the prices of basic vegetables like onion, potato and tomato have shot up to almost Rs 100 per kg, much higher than the average price.
India on the road to recovery?
The Economic Affairs Secretary in his press briefing stated that India continues to see growth in the economy for the past few months since the unlock began and there would be further improvement in the coming months.
He further stated that the economy should hopefully be back on rails. He added saying that it was moving much faster than what had been anticipated by a lot of experts and economists.
What are the projections for Indian economy?
The International Monetary Fund had last month projected the Indian economy to contract by a massive 10.3 percent this year. However, it had also projected a rebound to 8.8 percent in 2021. India had witnessed a growth rate of 4.2 percent in the last financial year.
The Finance Minister had also said last week that there were visible signs of revival in the economy and that the GDP growth may be in the negative zone or near zero in the current fiscal.
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