Covid-19: Impact on the Indian Economy S. Mahendra

Transcript:Covid-19: Impact on the Indian Economy S. Mahendra:
Covid-19: Impact on the Indian Economy S. Mahendra Dev and Rajeswari Sengupta Dr Shailesh Kumar, Assistant Professor, Dept of Economics, Bharati College, University of Delhi. Major Components of this Chapter This chapter contains the followings topics- ( A). Description of the state of the Indian economy in the pre-Covid-19 period, (B). Assessment of the potential impact of the shock on various segments of the economy, (C). Analysis of the policies that have been announced so far by the central government and the Reserve Bank of India to ameliorate the economic shock, (D). Set of policy recommendations for specific sectors. Current figures of corona cases India recorded the first case of the disease on January 30, 2020. Since then the cases have increased steadily and significantly. Total 88.14 persons have been infected and 82.03 lakhs have been recovered .1.29 patient died so far. In last 24 hrs 41,658 new positive cases and 42,215 recovery cases have been reported This proves that the growth in active cases is lower than the growth in total cases implying a relatively high recovery rate which has continued to improve. Measures to curb the spread of Covid 19. As we have seen this global Covid-19 pandemic is inflicting two kinds of shocks on countries- a health shock and an economic shock. On the health front in order to curb the spread of this highly contagious disease Government took following policy actions- Imposition of social distancing, Self-isolation at home, Closure of institutions and public facilities, Restrictions on mobility and Lock-down of an entire country Nationwide lock-down Government of India announced a nationwide lock-down starting March 25, 2020 which continued for about two months. Subsequently from end May and early June onward the lock-down was gradually relaxed in a phased manner but continued in high-risk zones or ‘containment’ areas. Measured relaxations have been permitted in areas outside the ‘containment or high-risk zones’ includes opening of non-essential establishments and businesses. The lock-down was primarily intended to buy time to prepare the health system and to put together a plan of how to deal with the outbreak once the case-load started accelerating. The unprecedented lock-down has had a significant adverse effect on the economy. Millions of jobs and livelihoods are at stake. activity around the country came to a halt, with no job or income, more than 50 million migrant workers either returned to their native villages or shifted to