Option of another stimulus package not closed: Nirmala Sitharaman

Option of another stimulus package not closed: Nirmala Sitharaman

• By Staff Writer

Option of another stimulus package not closed: Nirmala Sitharaman

Mumbai: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that she has not closed the option to come up with another economic stimulus package, rekindling hopes that one may be in the offing.

“I have not closed the option to come up with another stimulus package,” Sitharaman said in a virtual interactivity at an ORF event.

Last week, the government announced steps to stimulate consumer demand, including advance payment of a part of the wages of central government employees during the festival season and more capital spending in an attempt to bolster the pandemic-hit economy.

The government will allow its employees to spend tax-exempt leave travel allowances on goods and services, Sitharaman told a news briefing.

She said the government will also shore up investment by spending extra Rs 25,000 crore on roads, ports and defence projects, and offering Rs 12,000 crore in interest-free 50-year loans to state governments for spending on infrastructure before March 31.

She had said that those measures are likely to create an additional demand of Rs 73,000 crore in a fiscally judicious way.

There are high expectations that the government may come up with another round of stimulus measures, after the previous ones failed to excite the economy and the markets.

On May 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a stimulus package worth Rs 20 lakh crore, equivalent to about 10 per cent of India’s GDP, in an address to the nation. Modi promised to help businesses and individuals tide over the Covid-19 crisis, make the country self-reliant and revive the stalled economy.

However, the plan unveiled by the Finance Minister during Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan left the industry and markets asking for more.

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