Centre yet to make a 'final call' on second wave's impact on economy: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the Centre is continuing to assess the impact of the second wave on the Indian economy and will adopt a wait and watch mode before rolling out any stimulus package. "We are continuing the process of assessing, but it is going to be drastically different from one week to the other. Every week, the inputs are going to be fairly different," she said in an interview to TOI. 

In response to the criticism that a large stimulus is not being unveiled by the government, she said one must give time for the proposals announced in the Union Budget earlier this year to "go down to the people." "The budget, which is designed for a Covid-affected economy, will have to go down to the people. We are not even taking that on board, and we have started talking about where is the big deal stimulus? The budget itself is designed keeping necessity (for a stimulus)," she said, hinting that the rumoured stimulus package might take more time before it is announced. 

"Many of the schemes which were announced during Atmanirbhar Bharat are still being used... So, there are quite a few Atma Nirbhar announcements which are active. Setting up wellness centres in rural areas, agricultural infrastructure and so on. Last year, we increased the budget for MGNREGA when there was demand. If necessary, I will give more but there is not that much demand, meaning the kind of increase that we saw last year is not there. Post-corona, when labour is returning, it is negotiating based on the skills acquired. So, there are things happening and that is why I said that we have not made a final call on what is the impact of the second wave yet on the economy," the finance minister explained. 

For sectors such as tourism and hospitality, which have been hit particularly hard, she said she had tried her best in the pre-Budget time. "We had extensive consultations but couldn’t bring a formulation which could work. In fact even during the final days we met hoteliers but we couldn’t arrive at a formulation. However, we did open up the ECLGS for smaller hoteliers. I fully recognise that hotels, tourism, hospitality and all the contact-based industries have suffered," Sitharaman said. 

The finance minister also said that no amount of preparation would have prepared the country for the devastating second wave. "But the speed with which it spread and the intensity with which it spread, all within a matter of 10-15 days, no amount of preparation could have been adequate. I am not saying this because I am in government and therefore I want to defend it. I am not giving a “Bachao”, I am not giving a saving statement. States, Centre, private hospitals, medical fraternity, who would have imagined the extent (and) intensity with which it came and the speed with which it spread? Since October, money has been given for oxygen in hospitals and for beds and other infrastructure. Work is going on," she said.