20/04/2024
The overall growth and development of the country depends on its economy and providence. In India, it all started in March 2020, when people heard about the deadly corona virus and pandemic stuck. The pandemic has taken a toll over the people breaking them not only physically but mentally also. All of this definitely affected the economy all over the world including our country, India.
The RBI report roughly showed a loss of ₹19.1 lakh crores in 2021-2022, i.e., around ₹218 crores per hour approximately in the first wave. The second wave had a lesser effect which was around ₹17.1 lakh crores in 2021-2022 and there is a probability of losing more of ₹16.4 lakh crores in 2022-2023. These figures do give jitters to the forthcoming economy of our country.
Well, the government has its own figures to justify its statement stating that we lost around ₹9.57 lakh crores in 2020-2021. Isn’t it strange that the RBI quoted almost double the figures given by the finance minister? Well, we are not stating that the figures are completely wrong or faked because the finance ministry is calculating it in a totally different perspective. They took the GDP of 2020 which was ₹145 lakh crores and in 2021 it was around ₹136 lakh crores. So, gradually according to them, our economy fell only about ₹9.57 lakh crores that is approximately 6.6% only. They of course are absolutely true in their calculations but RBI smartly put these figures like even if the growth in 2021 would be 6.6%, it would sum up to ₹19.1 lakh crores which is a huge amount to lose.
In any case, we have lost the revenue for sure and now the question is can we recover it. If yes, then how?
It is quite natural that we have to pace up to reach that level of 6.6% which we have done in the prior years where economy slowed down due to some or the other reasons. It might take extra diligence to come up to the mark but while persistently moving towards it, we might possibly reach our goal closely in 2034-2035 as mentioned by RBI.
To be there is not next to impossible, but the growth has to be persistent and uninterrupted. Natural calamities drought, flood, earthquake or even pandemic are unpredictable and we have to be prepared for such and hold on.
The RBI as well as the finance ministry should work hand in hand so that we recuperate anywhere close to the loss which we faced due to the pandemic. This can be done in two ways, one is that the government can build up fascinating groundwork to enhance our future investors, wherein, the investors are lured to invest and profit. The other one is simplifying the process of borrowing money so that the public can take up on easy loans. The RBI did it, however, increased the repo rate from 4.0% to straight 4.4%, i.e., 40 bps. This will gradually rise up and the corporate and individuals will find it very scary to take loans as ultimately the RBI is the only one who will benefit from it.
The RBI has been doing this from a good period of time and the common man was not aware of it at all. The currency and finance department also mentioned regarding the same in their report. The policies which were introduced during the pandemic gave a good profit to the government and now they need to be withdrawn for the betterment and to stop inflation. India as a country is not eligible or capable to fight against inflation and so the RBI has to doing something quickly otherwise it will be held responsible for its own declarations.
The RBI held a meeting on 8th April and we are not sure whether this topic was discussed or not and if not, why so? Well, we can only wait to witness the updates with our fingers crossed to see how it benefits the common man at the end of the day.