For improving medical infrastructure and services, India may well have to spend 2% of its output, said the former CEA.
COVID-19 CASES
WorldIndiaConfirmed11,933Deaths392Confirmed1,976,192Deaths125,985New Delhi: India’s former chief economic adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian has said the government’s immediate focus should be on the rabi crop harvest and the retail supply chain, besides strengthening the health infrastructure to battle Covid-19, amid limited financial and administrative resources.
Addressing a webinar on Wednesday, he said the government should plan for an exit strategy and be prepared for “many more bankruptcies and NPAs (non-performing assets)”, as the financial and corporate sectors are set to take a huge hit owing to the pandemic.
“We need to start focusing on a war footing on harvest, the mandis, MSPs (minimum support prices)… start preparation for dealing with more cases of hospitalisations, improve capacity to deal with this should things get worse,” Subramanian said at the webinar hosted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research.
For improving medical infrastructure and services, India may well have to spend 2% of its output, said the former CEA. On the revenue side, he said he expects the loss to be about 1.5% of the GDP, with revenue collection being much less than the previous financial year and even the budget estimates of 2020-21.
Source: indiatimes.com