Centre To Monitor COVID-19 Data For Six Weeks To Decide On Any Economic Intervention: Sanjeev Sanyal

Principal Economic Advisor to the Union Ministry of Finance Sanjeev Sanyal yesterday (24 June) said that the Centre will closely monitor Covid-19 infection data for six weeks to chart the path it needs to walk for economic intervention, reports Economic Times.

Sanyal emphasised that the Centre will not make any announcements of economic interventions based on projections of the possible third wave of the pandemic.

Sanyal asserted, "We are dealing with uncertainty. The third wave may happen but we don't know how it will unfold. We need to take some steps against the third wave as a policymaker, and we will carry monetary and fiscal interventions if required. But we need to watch carefully the high-frequency data for six weeks and monitor the testing rather than prejudge how it will behave."

Sanyal underscored, "Our response is partly contingent on how exactly things span out."

Sanyal added that any fresh interventions could be targeted at sectors based on actual situations rather than generalised ones. He elaborated, "With the steps already taken on the demand side, some sectors are already redhot, but some sectors like tourism and hospitality are not. If generalised interventions are done, the demand and the growth will spurt but will have the problem of inflation."