Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed a press conference on November 12 to announce another stimulus package to boost the COVID-hit economy. Addressing the press conference, the finance minister said, ‘macro-economic indicators are pointing towards strong recovery’.
‘COVID-19 active cases have declined from over 10 lakh to 4.89 lakh,’ she said.
Finance Minister @nsitharaman outlines various economic indicators which show the presence of a strong pitch for recovery in the economy pic.twitter.com/0UOd8e6QrT
— PIB in Maharashtra (@PIBMumbai) November 12, 2020
The address comes a day after the the Union Cabinet approved a ₹2 lakh crore production-linked incentive package to boost demand in the country. The government’s last fiscal support of ₹21 lakh crore, called the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ package, was introduced in May this year.
Here are the major takeaways from the announcement:
Credit boost has been given to 2.5 crore farmers through Kisan Credit Cards, ₹1.4 lakh crores has been distributed to farmers.₹25,000 crores has been disbursed to farmers from Additional Emergency Working Capital Funding through NABARD.The government has started work to create a portal for migrant workers.There has been improvement on ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ in 28 states covering 68.8 crore beneficiaries.About 157.44 lakh eligible farmers have received Kisan Credit Cards and sanctioned a limit of ₹1,43,262 crore in two phases.26.2 lakh loan applications were received under the PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors.Bank credit growth has spiked 5.1%; markets are at a record high.RBI has predicted a strong likelihood of Indian economy returning to positive growth in third quarter itself.India’s GDP forecast for calendar year 2021 has been revised upwards to 8.6% from 8.1% projected earlier: Moody’sFDI inflows are up 13% (YoY). RBI predicts that economy likely to return to positive growth in Q3, FM Sitharaman said.Rs 7,721 crore sanctioned to HFCs and NBFCs, FM said.Sitharaman also said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections for October grossed at 1.05 lakh crore- 10 per cent YoY.₹1,32,800 crores have gone as income tax refunds to 39.7 lakh taxpayersSBI Utsav cards being distributed, under the festival advance scheme announced on 12th Oct. 11 states sanctioned ₹3,621 crores as an interest-free loan towards capital expenditure.Under the Emergency Credit Liquidity Guarantee Scheme, a total amount of ₹2.05 lakh crores has been sanctioned to 61 lakh borrowers, out of which ₹1.52 lakh crores has been disbursedFM SItharaman announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana, aimed at incentivising creation of employment opportunities during COVID-19 recovery phase.Beneficiaries include- new employees joining employment in EPFO-registered establishments on monthly wages less than ₹ 15,000, and EPF members drawing monthly wage of less than ₹ 15,000 who exited employment during March-September, and employed on or after October 1.
Also Read: ‘India In Historic Technical Recession’, RBI’s First ‘Nowcast’ Shows
