FM Nirmala Sitharaman on next stimulus package: ‘Not taken final call, consulting states’

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on May 28 that the Centre was in talks with states to assess impact of lockdown-like measures on various sectors and a final call on the next stimulus package had not been taken.

“The [Union] Budget has been announced only on February 1, we are in May, we have the entire year to go, the second wave has come and while there’s not a complete lockdown, states have had a lockdown. So we are getting inputs, we need to take a call. We need to understand where the impact is, how much it is and so on. That process of consulting, the states consulting, industry, is going on. We have not made any final call,” FM Sitharaman said during a press briefing after the GST Council meeting.

FM Sitharaman’s statement came at a time when chorus for another stimulus package has grown amid massive stress in the economy that has been battered by the second wave of COVID-19 cases and lockdown-like restrictions imposed by many states to curb the further spread of infections.

While India’s daily COVID-19 cases have dropped over the last two weeks, the infection rate remains high. Thus, states are hesitating to begin the reopening process.