Indian Economy Seeing 'Strong Recovery', Says Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that India was seeing a “strong recovery” taking root in the economy, as seen by increased goods and service tax collections and other metrics. 

Sitharaman launched the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana saying, “Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana being launched to incentivise creation of new employment opportunities during #COVID19 recovery. Every EPFO registered orgs — if they take in new employees or those who had lost jobs b/1 March 1 and September 30 - these employees will get benefits.” 

Sitharama announced that Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs, businesses, MUDRA borrowers and individuals (loans for business purposes), was being extended till March 31, 2021. 

PTI quoted her as saying that 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, PTI reported.

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.

The recovery is not due to just pent-up demand, Sitharaman told a news conference, ahead of announcing a new set of stimulus measures.

Government officials told Reuters on Wednesday that India was set to announce fresh stimulus this week to help pull the economy out of a historic contraction.

(With PTI and Reuters inputs)