RBI Once Again Proves To Be a Friend in Distress

RBI, India’s saviour, is all ready to support India’s weakening economy and take imperative measures to revive economic growth.

According to the details of the Reserve Bank’s policy review meeting, all-round measures are needed to mitigate the adverse effects of the Covid-19 epidemic and in view of this situation, the Reserve Bank will do everything necessary to restore economic growth and maintain financial stability. It will take all measures that are required. This was stated in the details of the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on March 24, 26 and 27. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place on March 31, April 1 and April 3 but was held a few days ahead of schedule due to the coronavirus epidemic. 

Anticipation of global recession deeper than other financial crisis

According to the revised schedule, after the three-day meeting ended on March 27, RBI decided to cut the repo rate by 0.75 per cent to 4.40 per cent and reverse repo rate by 0.90 per cent to 4 per cent. According to details released by the Reserve Bank on Monday of this meeting, Das said that the global macroeconomic situation has suddenly deteriorated in the last fortnight. He said that officials and central banks in many countries have used a wide range of targeted policy instruments to deal with macroeconomic decline due to lockdown and social distance. He said that the possibility of a global recession is increasing, which may be deeper than in the earlier global financial crisis. 

Rapid decline in growth projections

He said, “In India too, the short-term growth projects have fallen sharply. The situation seems to be building up initially due to the economic slowdown and now due to increasing Covid-19 spread and the nationwide lockdown that followed”. Talking about inflation, Das said that the scenario has changed widely. The governor said that if the demand conditions took longer to normalize, then the demand which usually increases in the summer months is likely to remain weak. Weak GDP demand may help curb inflation. 

Covid-19 an unseen killer

He said, “Covid-19 is an invisible killer, which needs to be controlled before it can wreak havoc on human life and the destroy economy.” Das said, “In this scenario it is important to ensure that finance, which is the lifeline of the economy, flows seamlessly across different sectors of the economy.” “In such a situation, the Reserve Bank will be vigilant and not hesitate to use any tool, be it conventional or unconventional, to reduce the impact of Covid-19 and restore growth and maintain financial stability,” he said.

Cases in India rise to 9,373; death toll rises to 334

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, there have been 9,373 positive cases of corona in the country so far. Apart from this, 334 people have died. In the last 12 hours, 705 patients of coronavirus have been found. 1104 people in India have recovered or discharged from the hospital. Total number of active cases in the country are 7,935.  Earlier on Sunday, the number of corona victims in the country had crossed eight thousand.

At the same time, 18 lakh 52 thousand 652 people are infected with coronavirus worldwide. One lakh 14 thousand 208 people have died. Four lakh 23 thousand 400 have been cured in these.