Government Plans Relief Package For Sectors Of Economy Most Affected By Covid-19 Pandemic, Lockdown

The Union Ministry of Finance (MoF) headed by Nirmala Sitharaman is working on a second relief package to stimulate the Indian economy, the growth of which has been hit hard by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, reports Financial Express.

The development towards a second economic relief package comes as the government had last month unveiled a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package targeted at the poor and vulnerable section of the nation in the form of foodgrains and cash transfers.

The second economic package is likely to be targeted at providing relief to the sectors which have been hard-hit by the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and the 21-day nationwide lockdown which has brought most parts of the economy to a grinding halt.

The Finance Ministry is working along with an empowered group constituted by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to finalise the content of the package which is expected to be unveiled soon to give a push to the hard-hit sectors after the lockdown is lifted.

The group is looking at the stress in various sectors including MSME, hospitality, civil aviation, agriculture and allied sector and based on the inputs working on the stimulus package.

The empowered group was constituted by PMO last week. It comprises seven members and is headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, who is monitoring the situation on a daily basis.