Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the answer to this "crisis" is to spur demand by putting money in the hands of the people.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 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 the package to support the economy

As part of plan to provide relief to the tourism industry, among the worst affected sectors by the pandemic, and to encourage travel activities, the government on Monday said that it would offer tourist visa free of charge till March 31, 2022.

The government on Monday extended the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana, which was launched in October last year to encourage employment generation, by nine months till March 31, 2022.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government has approved a Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for COVID-19 affected sectors.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday reviewed with Infosys officials the technical glitches that continue to mar the new income tax e-filing portal.

According to reports, the government has picked CBI and IOB for divestment. The government is likely to amend the Banking Regulations Act and other related laws to facilitate the planned divestment.   

The GST Council on Saturday slashed the tax rate on coronavirus medicines such as Remdesivir and equipment like oxygen concentrators and medical grade oxygen.

Infosys Co-Founder Nandan Nilekani has responded to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after the latter flagged issues in the new income tax e-filing website asking the technology company to fix the glitches.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked Infosys and its Chairman Nandan Nilekani to fix technical glitches being encountered on the income tax department's new e-filing website, after users flooded her Twitter timeline with complaints.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday in a series of tweets responded to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the latter wrote to the Centre seeking exemption from GST/customs and other duties, taxes on some items including Covid related drugs.

Even with the second wave, we are very clear that we are not going in for lockdowns in a big way, Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The Central government has rolled back cuts on interest rates on small savings schemes like National Savings Certificates and PPF.

Speaking at the sixth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of New Development Bank(NDB) through video-conference, Sitharaman highlighted that India's COVID-19 vaccination drive, the largest in the world, is underway and to date, 63.9 million doses of made-in-India COVID vaccine have been supplied to 80 countries including 10.4 million doses of the vaccine as grants.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said India enjoys an investment grade rating and she does not see a rating downgrade because of higher spending. 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said she was ready to discuss bringing petrol and diesel under GST in the next council meet.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that fugitive businessmen Vijaya Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are "coming back" to India" to face the law. The government is persuing extradition of Mallya and Modi from the UK while Choksi is believed to be in Antigua.

Amid bank strike over the proposed privatisation of the public sector banks, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said not all banks are going to be privatised adding the interests of the employees will be taken care of.

The government has listed the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 for introduction, consideration and passing in the current session of Parliament.  

​Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that there is no proposal to bring crude oil, petrol, diesel, jet fuel (ATF) and natural gas under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).