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An economic storm is coming, will hurt many: Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi said that the country will face huge economic loss which will be bigger than the one inflicted by coronavirus if demand is not generated.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday warned of a devastating economic storm headed India’s way.
“The storm has not come yet, it is coming and will cause big economic damage and hurt many,” Gandhi said in an interaction with regional electronic media.
Gandhi said that the country will face huge economic loss which will be bigger than the one inflicted by coronavirus if demand is not generated.
Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage
The economy has already a big hit because of the lockdown that began on March 25 and various projections show that growth will be difficult to achieve in the near future.
Last week, ratings agency Moody’s said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak will exacerbate the slowdown in India’s economic growth, with the country expected to see 0% expansion in the current fiscal year
The agency said it expects India to see no growth in financial year 2021 but bounce back to a 6.6% GDP growth in FY22. The fiscal deficit is projected to rise to 5.5% of GDP in FY21 versus the budgeted estimate of 3.5%.
The Covid-19 spread in the country has also “significantly reduced the prospects of a durable fiscal consolidation,” it said in a report, according to Reuters.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India said that even after battered economically due to the Covid-19 crisis, India will continue to grow at 1.9 per cent during the current fiscal year
A week after the RBI’s prediction, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) predicted that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will like shrink by 0.9% in the current financial year in a worst-case scenario in the coronavirus crisis if restrictions on Covid-19 hotspots are extended, and may grow by as much as 1.5% in a best-case framework.
