Second wave of pandemic has taken grievous toll on India: RBI Governor
Instilling confidence that the economy which has taken a hit due to the Covid pandemic, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said that, it has started to look up in late-May and early June.
“Second wave of pandemic has taken grievous toll on India. Economic activity was dented in April, but has started to look up in late-May and early June," Das said in Financial Stability Report.
“Dent on balance sheets, performance of financial institutions much less than projected earlier. Capital, liquidity buffers at financial institutions "reasonably resilient" to withstand future shocks," he added.
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Giving a boost to the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Monday announced Rs 1.5 lakh crore of additional credit for small and medium businesses, more funds for the healthcare sector, loans to tourism agencies and guides, and waiver of visa fee for foreign tourists as part of a package to support the pandemic-hit economy.
Together with previously announced Rs 93,869 crore spending on providing free foodgrains to the poor till November and additional Rs 14,775 crore fertiliser subsidy, the stimulus package -- mostly made up of government guarantee to banks and microfinance institutions for loans they extend to Covid-hit sectors — totalled up to Rs 6.29 lakh crore.
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