India’s economy to contract by 10.3% this fiscal, says IMF
- India’s economy is expected to contract 10.3% in the current fiscal year as the country and the world reel from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- Global output is projected to shrink 4.4% in 2020, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook October 2020 report titled, “A Long and Difficult Ascent”.
- India is expected to rebound in the fiscal year beginning in April 2021 with 8.8% growth — an upgrade of 2.8 percentage points relative to the June update.
Centre may provide further stimulus’
- The government could announce more relief and stimulus measures to pump-prime the economy in the months to come, with senior government sources stressing that the mini stimulus package announced on Monday did not mean that the Centre had closed the option for more steps going forward.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a package on Monday to spur consumer demand and capital spending, with estimated benefits in the range of ₹73,000 crore to ₹1 lakh crore. The package, estimated to have a fiscal cost of 0.2% of GDP, includes incentives for government employees and formal sector employees to buy consumer goods and other services by using cash vouchers linked to their leave travel allowances.