Decoding the impact of relief measures announced by FM Nirmala Sitharaman

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced eight new schemes to give a boost to the sectors reeling under the Covid-19 induced restrictions.

The eight economic measures amount to Rs 6,28,993 crore and include relief for industry, healthcare and tourism sectors, farmers, state governments as well as microfinance users. Four of the eight economic relief measures announced by Sitharaman are new, including one specific to health infrastructure.

On Money9, we invited senior journalist Siddharth Zarabi and policy researcher Karan Bhasin to decode the relief measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and their impact on your wallet post the second Covid wave.

Welcoming the announcement, senior journalist Siddhart Zarabi said, the measures should help provide some support to the sectors badly hit by Covid second wave.

“The announcements are an extension of the series of relief measures being announced by the government and should help provide some support to the sectors badly hit by Covid second wave,” Zarabi said.

The support measures were announced as states start lifting restrictions after new coronavirus infections showed a decline. The economy seems to be on a recovery path after being hit by a devastating second wave of infections that was dubbed as the world’s worst Covid-19 surge.

Policy researcher Karan Bhasin said that the announcements are targeted towards providing working capital to those looking to get back into the economic cycle.

“Relief measures in India have coincided with the unlocking of the economy and scaling up of vaccinations. We have earlier also seen that in India, stimulus measures have been announced when the first unlock happened. This eventually helped in the revival of the economy in Q3, Q4. This is targeted at providing working capital to those again looking to get back into the economic cycle,” said Bhasin.

Sitharaman said the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme is being expanded to Rs 4.5 lakh crore from Rs 3 lakh crore. Under the scheme, a collateral-free loan is provided by banks to small businesses and the government stands guarantee for any default.

The ECLGS, launched last year, has helped cash-starved small businesses raise funds during the Covid-19 lockdown for working capital and to meet their orders. As much as Rs 2.73 lakh crore has been sanctioned under the three previous ECLGS programmes, of which Rs 2.10 lakh crore has already been disbursed.

Watch the entire conversation to know more…