The Indian government has pledged to spend US$265 billion, including US$40 billion in collateral-free loans to small businesses, to boost liquidity and help the economy weather the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The loans would benefit up to 4.5 million small businesses, Indian Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi yesterday.
“Essentially this is to spur growth and to build a very self-reliant India,” Sitharaman said. “It addresses ease of doing business, compliance and due diligence, and the intention is also to build local brands.”
Photo: Reuters
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that his government would spend an amount equivalent to 10 percent of the nation’s GDP to help the economy get back on its feet after weeks of stay-at-home restrictions to beat the pandemic.
The resultant halt to nonessential consumption set up Asia’s third-largest economy for its first annual contraction in four decades, as businesses collapsed and jobs were lost.
An estimated 122 million people lost their jobs last month, while consumer demand has evaporated.
Modi’s spending plan includes measures already unveiled by the government and by the Reserve Bank of India, such as the provision of cheap cash to banks and a reduction in its cash reserve ratio.
The details of the package are to be shared in tranches, Sitharaman said, adding that yesterday’s announcement covered 15 different measures, including six pertaining to small businesses, and that more would be announced over the next few days.
As part of the plan, small businesses would be eligible to borrow collateral-free automatic loans for a four-year tenor with a 12-month freeze on principal repayments. The loans would be guaranteed by the government.
“This economic package will be a crucial link in the creation of a self-reliant India,” Modi said. “It will focus on areas like land, labor, liquidity and law.”
Modi has come under criticism for the pain inflicted on India’s poor due to the sustained lockdown since the end of March.
In the past few days, the movement of millions of migrant workers from the cities where they had jobs to their homes in rural villages has dominated the news.
Companies have been urging the government for weeks to increase support measures.
Some restrictions were eased on April 20 to allow farmers and industries to resume operations in rural areas and in districts free of infection.
Still, companies are facing difficulties reopening factories because of travel restrictions, conflicting rules, broken supply chains and a shortage of workers.
The country has started running special trains to take stranded workers to their homes. Indian Railways also partially resumed passenger train operations from Tuesday, nearly two months after the services were stopped.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
RSS