New Delhi: Junior Finance Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday said that the COVID-19 will not have any adverse impact on the Indian economy. He cited the latest data on trade and indicators of domestic output to back his claim.
His response comes at a meantime when the services and manufacturing sectors, airline industry, hotels, tourism and other key contributors to the economy are facing setback of the pandemic.
However, India’s short-term macro-economic outlook seems vulnerable.
As is true for the world at large, India’s near-term macro-economic outlook is vulnerable to disruption of trade with China and 2nd-round effects arising from an expected slowdown in global growth. However, the latest available data on trade and indicators of domestic output don’t suggest any adverse impact on the economy,” Thakur said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
His statement further said “Additionally, a positive impact on India’s economy may arise from a decline in global oil prices triggered by the outbreak of COVID19,” he added.
“In order to address possibility of trade-induced adverse impact on economy, the government is constantly engaging with Expert Promotion Councils and trade bodies, particularly in pharmaceutical, electronics and automobile sectors where supply chains are sourcing imports from China,” he said.
“With regards to domestic availability of fertilisers, the impact of COVID19 seems to be negligible at juncture and situation of forthcoming fertiliser imports at various ports being observed closely,” he added.
