New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the GDP growth of India for the year 2020-21 may remain in the negative. During his live conference today, Das shared observations of the global and domestic market that have been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. He said that that the global macroeconomic indicators are austere due to the pandemic and lockdown. The GDPs of major economies around the world have contracted and low crude oil prices are also affecting budgetary revenues.

In the domestic market economic activity has been hit by the nationwide lockdown and India’s top states which are either in the red or orange zones. He said that there is a complete collapse in demand both in rural and urban markets and even the exports and imports have contracted.

According to a report by IANS the governor said, “High-frequency indicators point to collapse in demand in March.

But Das shows optimism for the second half of the year where he said that economic activities may pick up. He said that growth impulses are expected in the second half of the year and reiterated his faith in India’s economy.

The governor announced several measures today to mitigate financial losses caused due to the lockdown. This included the extension of the moratorium on loan repayments by another three months and a cut to the Repo rate which has been decreased by 40 bps to 4 percent and the reverse repo rate to 3.35 percent. Several steps have also been taken for exporters and importers to provide financial assistance during the time of crisis.

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