Addressing a press conference to announce more stimulus measures to boost growth, she said macro-economic indicators are pointing towards recovery
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the Indian economy is witnessing a strong recovery after a long and strict lockdown.
Addressing a press conference to announce more stimulus measures to boost growth, she said macro-economic indicators are pointing towards recovery. She noted that COVID-19 active cases have declined from over 10 lakh to 4.89 lakh with case fatality rate (CFR) at 1.47 per cent.
Giving out details of recovery, she said composite purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 58.9 per cent in October versus 54.6 per cent in the previous month, registering strongest increase in output in close to nine years.
Energy consumption growth trended higher in October at 12 per cent year-on-year, while Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections have grown 10 per cent to over Rs 1.05 lakh crore. Daily railway freight tonnage grew by an average 20 per cent year-on-year versus 12 per cent, she said adding bank credit has improved 5.1 per cent.
Also, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in April-August at USD 35.37 billion has seen a 13 per cent rise on a year-on-year basis. RBI has predicted a strong likelihood of Indian economy returning to positive growth in Q3 2020-21, ahead by a quarter from the earlier forecast, she said adding prominent economists have suggested that the rebound is not only due to pent up demand but also due to strong economic growth.
Giving details of the progress made on the previous stimulus announcements under AatmanirbharBharat Abhiyaan, Sitharaman said 28 states/union territories (UTs) have been brought under the national portability of ration cards with effect from September 1.
This now covers 68.6 crore beneficiaries who now have an option to lift their food grains from any fair-price shops (FPS) of their choice in any of these 28 states/UTs, she said. Intra-state portability is also enabled in these 28 states/UTs, she said adding 1.5 crore monthly transactions are happening.
Under PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi, 26.62 lakh loan applications were received out of which 13.78 lakh loans totalling Rs 1,373.33 crore were sanctioned. The Finance Minister said credit boost to 2.5 crore farmers has been achieved through Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs).
“So far 183.14 lakh applications have been received and have issued KCCs for 157.44 lakh eligible farmers and sanctioned a limit of Rs 1,43,262 crore in two phases,” she said. Under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), proposals worth Rs 1,682.32 crore from 21 states were sanctioned.
As much as Rs 25,000 crore has been disbursed to farmers under the additional emergency working capital fund, she said. Sitharaman further said, Rs 2.05 lakh crore was sanctioned to 61 lakh borrowers. Of this Rs 1.52 lakh crore has been disbursed.
As much as Rs 26,889 crore worth of portfolios have been bought by public sector banks (PSBs) under the partial credit guarantee scheme, she said adding Rs 7,227 crore was disbursed to Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs).
She said Rs 1,18,272 crore worth of loans have been sanctioned to 17 states/UTs for liquidity injections in electricity distribution companies. Of this, 11 states have received Rs 31,136 crore. The Finance Minister said Rs 25,000 crore has been provided as additional capital expenditure to the Ministry of Road Transport and Ministry of Defence.
Also, 11 states have been sanctioned Rs 3,621 crore as interest free loan towards capital expenditure, she said. Further, Rs 1,32,800 crore of income tax refund has been made to 39.79 lakh assesses, she added.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 65,000-crore fertilizer subsidy for farmers as part of her stimulus package to boost the economy.
She said Rs 65,000 crore is being provided to ensure adequate availability of fertilisers to farmers and to enable timely accessibility of fertilisers in the upcoming crop season. She said an additional outlay of Rs 10,000 crore will be provided for PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana in the current financial year.
This, she said, will accelerate growth of the rural economy. Sitharaman further said, Rs 3,000 crore will be released to EXIM Bank for promotion of ‘Project Exports’ through lines of credits. EXIM Bank extends lines of credits (LOC) on behalf of the government of India as assistance to developing countries under Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) Scheme.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said perishable goods are putting upward pressure on inflation and the government is working on both short and medium-term measures for controlling price rise.
The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation rose to a seven-month high of 1.32 per cent in September, while retail inflation was at eight-month high of 7.34 per cent on spiralling prices of food items, especially vegetables.
Speaking to reporters, Sitharaman said floods in certain districts have led to uptick in prices of perishable goods, and the government is taking steps for their better preservation, long shelf life and providing weather proof storage, particularly for crops like onion and potato.
“Strictly, the perishable goods are the one which went up and its more because some districts got flooded…The government is working on both short-term and medium-term steps. Import where necessary for short duration and for medium-term, enough investment is being attracted to and incentives being provided to create agri infrastructure,” she said.
The Reserve Bank in a report on the state of economy on Wednesday had also flagged unrelenting pressure of inflation as a downside risk confronting the prospects of economic recovery. “The foremost is the unrelenting pressure of inflation, with no signs of waning in spite of supply management measures…There is a grave risk of generalisation of price pressures, unanchoring of inflation expectations feeding into a loss of credibility in policy interventions and the eventual corrosion of the nascent growth impulses that are making their appearance,” RBI said.
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