Meeting the Covid economic crisis head-on

The twin mantras for the government’s stimulus in response to the unprecedented economic impact of Covid-19 has been to first ensure that the human cost of the crisis is minimised, especially for those at the bottom of the pyramid; and two, to convert this crisis into an opportunity by implementing bold structural reforms that will go beyond repairing the damage to the production capacities and enhance the overall supply response capabilities of the economy. The stimulus or package announced by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, over the past five days is a carefully crafted, well-balanced, yet bold package, that will in the coming days achieve both the objectives.

It is widely recognised that the present crisis is far worse than both the Asian financial crisis of the late nineties as well as the global financial one of 2008-09 as it has seriously impacted both the supply and demand sides of the economy. The government’s response has been to effectively address both these aspects. On the supply side, the government response has been four-fold.

First, to ensure that food security and farmers’ incomes were not impaired, the government declared agriculture and all related activities as essential services immediately upon announcing the lockdown. This permitted the successful harvesting and efficient procurement of the critical rabi crop. It also implied pumping in Rs 78,000 crore as new purchasing power in the hands of the farmers.

The second prong was to effectively prevent the pressing cash/liquidity crunch from converting to insolvencies and bankruptcies. An immediate moratorium was announced on their debt-servicing obligations to commercial banks. This was greatly reinforced for the MSMEs, for whom an additional credit line of Rs 3 trillion without any fresh collateral was extended. The MSMEs could also avail themselves of the new equity from the Rs 50,000-crore fund and take advantage of the subsidiary debt facility announced by the FM. These measures provided succour to a large number of businesses, especially those in the services sectors like hospitality, entertainment, retail etc.

The Rs 90,000-crore credit package made available to state discoms should also be included in this set as it will prevent bankruptcies of the state electricity utilities and power producers, which would have had disastrous results.

The third set of measures was directed to significantly improve the ecosystem for private producers, both in agriculture and manufacturing. Long-pending reforms have been announced to give farmers the much-needed freedom to choose their clients and for traders and exporters of agro-products to maintain the necessary stocks. Defence production and exports will get a new fillip with the liberalisation measures. Greater space will be given to private businesses in sectors in which hitherto public sector enterprises had either a complete monopoly or a predominant presence.

Finally, in a measure that does not have a large fiscal footprint, but touches the lives and livelihoods of more than 50 lakh families, street vendors all over the country have been given a credit of Rs 10,000 each for re-stocking and use as working capital.

Thus, ‘the package’ has guaranteed the survival of existing production capacities and laid strong grounds for enhancing larger private sector participation by both domestic and foreign players.

Several measures have been announced to lift the sagging demand in the economy. Aggregate demand is made up of consumption, investment and demand for intermediate goods as well. This has to be taken note of by those who consider only the cash in hand of consumers as the sole means for reversing the declining demand in the economy. Therefore, additional credit lines provided to the MSMEs or vendors or farmers (Rs 2 trillion over and above the limits provided under the KCC) will contribute to the strengthening of the aggregate demand.

A significant number of measures was announced to hike the consumption demand directly as well. They include Rs 1.73 lakh crore (announced in the first package) for improving the income and welfare of the most vulnerable, including the 20 crore female Jan Dhan account holders who will receive monies directly into their bank accounts; Rs 50,000 additional income in the hands of those whose TDS and TCS were reduced by 25 per cent;Rs 40,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA which will provide jobs and succour to those returning to their villages from metros and cities; Rs 30,000 crore for construction workers; Rs 17,800 crore transferred to 12 crore farmers; and Rs 13,000 crore transferred to the states to finance the costs of running quarantine homes and shelters for migrant workers.

These measures, which will directly benefit different categories of individuals, will raise the flagging demand, a condition necessary to trigger a fast-paced recovery in economic activity.

As the Finance Minister pointed out, the size of the stimulus — at Rs 20.97 trillion — totalled more than the promise made by the Prime Minister in his address on May 12. This is more than 10 per cent of the GDP and compares very favourably with the packages announced by the other emerging economies. Combined with the significant number of bold structural reform measures, which hold the potential to make Indian firms attain global scales and competitiveness and give the much-needed freedoms, flexibility and financial strength to our beleaguered farmers, the ‘package’ promises to promote India’s economic recovery in the post-Covid-19 period.

Views are personal