The best thing that governments can do at this point is to really fight the coronavirus epidemic and worry about stimulus later, said Raghuram&nbsp;Rajan, former RBI&nbsp;governor.&nbsp;The priority should be to convince companies and households that the virus is under control, he told Bloomberg. The spread of&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;is pushing the world economy toward its worst performance since the financial crisis more than a decade ago.&nbsp;The virus outbreak will force companies to rethink supply chains and overseas production facilities, Rajan&nbsp;added. Bank of America economists warned clients on Thursday that they now expect 2.8% global growth this year, the weakest since 2009.
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The best thing that governments can do at this point is to really fight the coronavirus epidemic and worry about stimulus later, said Raghuram Rajan, former RBI governor. The priority should be to convince companies and households that the virus is under control, he told Bloomberg. The spread of coronavirus is pushing the world economy toward its worst performance since the financial crisis more than a decade ago. The virus outbreak will force companies to rethink supply chains and overseas production facilities, Rajan added. Bank of America economists warned clients on Thursday that they now expect 2.8% global growth this year, the weakest since 2009.

Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved capital infusion of ₹12,450 crore for three public sector general insurance companies. Oriental Insurance Company Ltd, National Insurance Company Ltd and United India Insurance Company Ltd will be benefitted, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar&nbsp;said. This includes ₹2,500 crore&nbsp;pumped in FY20.

India's unemployment rate continues to remain high despite the sharp rebound in labour participation rate, said the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.&nbsp;CMIE said the unemployment rate fell sharply from 23.5% in May 2020 to 11% in June. However, the think tank believes the 11% unemployment rate is still high compared to the less than than 8% rate before the lockdown.
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Union Cabinet is likely to approve extension of EPF support for business and workers for 3 months, CNBC TV-18 reported. The government under PM Garib Kalyan Package had announced EPF support of 24% for businesses and low wage workers till August 30. The government had also reduced EPF contribution for business entity and workers to 10% from 12% till August 30.
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India's coal imports registered a 29.7% drop to 48.84 million tonnes in the June quarter of the ongoing financial year, according to industry data. India had imported 69.54 MT of coal in the corresponding period of 2019-20. The drop in imports assumes significance as the government mandating state-owned Coal India&nbsp;to replace at least 100 million tonne of imports with domestically-produced coal in 2020-21.

Industry body Assocham has identified 15 large import items for ramping up the country's domestic capacity to achieve the objective of Aatmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India in two-three years. These items include electronics, coal, iron-steel, non-ferrous metals and vegetable oils, among others. The analysis, based on the latest data, shows that electronics goods are the largest non-oil import segment. Despite the country being under partial lockdown, India imported electronic goods worth $2.8 billion only in May, 2020. In the circumstance of the industry operating in a normal way, these imports are near about $5 billion a month - a huge drain on the forex which needs to be curtailed,&nbsp;Assocham said in a note.

The estimated monthly&nbsp;wage loss attributed to job cuts in the country during the first two lockdowns alone would amount to ₹33,800 crore, as per a study by the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. Assuming these employees remained jobless for a steady six months, the overall anticipated wage loss would amount&nbsp;to ₹2 lakh crore, or 3 times the finances allotted for the MGNREGA scheme within the 2020-2021 union finances, the research mentioned.&nbsp;The research paper also stated&nbsp;that Lockdown 1 and Lockdown 2 have put around 11.6 crore and 7.9&nbsp;crore workers at risk of job loss, respectively.

India&rsquo;s trade deficit with China fell to $48.66 billion in 2019-20 on account of the decline in imports from the neighbouring country, according to government data. Exports to China in the financial year 2020 stood at $16.6 billion, while imports aggregated at $65.26 billion, the data showed. The trade deficit stood at $53.56 billion in 2018-19 and $63 billion in 2017-18.

India's services sector activity remained in a deep downturn in June as the Covid-19 pandemic curtailed intakes of new work orders and disrupted business operations, a monthly survey said on Friday. The&nbsp;IHS Markit&nbsp;India&nbsp;Services Business Activity Index was at 33.7 in June, however, up from 12.6 recorded in May.&nbsp;The Indian services sector activity contracted for a fourth successive month in June.

The finance ministry on Friday said that Income Tax department has issued tax refunds worth ₹62,361 crore to over 20 lakh taxpayers amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Income tax refunds amounting to ₹23,453&nbsp;crore have been issued in over 19 lakh cases to taxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to ₹38,908&nbsp;crore have been issued in 1.36 lakh cases to taxpayers during this period, the release stated.

In a bid to accelerate the wheels of the&nbsp;coronavirus-hit economy, India needs foreign direct investments worth ₹50 to 60 lakh crore, Union minister Nitin Gadkari&nbsp;said. The money can be tapped mainly through infrastructure projects and&nbsp;MSME sector, he added. The senior Central minister said such funds would benefit the country as there is a need for pumping in liquidity into the market.&nbsp;Gadkari further said that talks are on with investors from Dubai and the US for various sectors, including MSMEs.
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The World Bank has approved $750 million worth loans to&nbsp;MSMEs&nbsp;in India which have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. This will support the MSME package announced by the government under its &lsquo;Self-reliant India&rsquo; programme. India&rsquo;s MSME sector, which contributes 30% of India&rsquo;s GDP and 40% of exports, is currently facing severe stress. The sector also employs 150-180 million people.

GST revenue collection in June stood at ₹90,917 crore, up from ₹62,009 crore mopped up in May and ₹32,294 crore in April. The government had allowed a relaxed time schedule for filing of GST&nbsp;returns. Hence, returns for the month of April, March as well as February got filed during June 2020.

Jet fuel or ATF price on Wednesday was hiked by 7.5% or ₹2,922 per kilolitre to ₹41,992 in the national capital, the third increase in a month. Simultaneously, non-subsidised LPG rates were increased by ₹1 to ₹594 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi. Prices were up by ₹4 in other metros. On the other hand, petrol and diesel prices were unchanged for the second day in a row.

The output of eight core infrastructure industries shrank by 23.4% in May due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, according to the official data. The eight-core sectors had expanded by 3.8% in May 2019. Barring fertiliser, all seven sectors - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity - had recorded negative growth in May.
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The government is looking to license the import of 10-12 items, including air conditioners and several of its components and parts of television sets as it discourages the entry of&nbsp;foreign goods into the country, especially those from China, the Times of India reported.&nbsp;Unlike duty hikes, which are across the board, licensing can allow for import from select countries. Similarly, entry through designated ports helps monitor&nbsp;the goods better without holding up the entry of all items.

The unemployment rate in the country inched marginally higher to 8.59% in the week ended June 28, from 8.48% a week ago, though it remained close to pre-Covid levels. The urban unemployment rate continued to remain in double-digits at 10.69% and the rural unemployment rate was recorded at 7.62%, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy&nbsp;showed. Experts believe&nbsp;Kharif sowing and higher MGNREGA activities are helping keep the rural unemployment rate lower, but the urban unemployment rate is expected to stay high due to supply chain disruptions.

The sale of Chinese goods on the dedicated online trading platform for state-run agencies &ndash; Government e-Marketplace&nbsp;&ndash; will now be difficult as the government has made it mandatory for sellers to mention the country of origin of products, Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday. As per the report, the new feature was added to the online marketplace so buyers can make informed decisions and avoid Chinese products.

India's unemployment rate declined to a pre-lockdown level of 8.5% in the week ended June 21, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said on Monday. Earlier, the rate had&nbsp;spiked to 27.1% in the week ended May 3, compared to 8.75% in March. The latest data on unemployment from the private sector think-tank comes at a time when the country is attempting to bring economic activity back on track.

In a bid to protect domestic businesses, the government plans to impose higher trade barriers and raise import duties on around 300 products from China and elsewhere, two government officials told news agency Reuters.&nbsp;The government is considering raising import duties on 160-200 products and imposing non-tariff barriers - such as licensing requirements or stricter quality checks - on another 100, the report mentioned.

In a bid to provide employment opportunities to migrant workers,&nbsp;Finance minister&nbsp;Nirmala Sitharaman&nbsp;on Thursday unveiled some&nbsp;details of PM Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan&nbsp;worth&nbsp;₹50,000 crore. The scheme will be spread over a duration of 125 days and will cover 116 districts of the country. As per the Centre's estimate, at least 25,000 returned migrant labourers in each&nbsp;district will be benefitted. These districts are in six states -&nbsp;Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.

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Fight virus first, worry about stimulus later: Raghuram Rajan

Feb 28, 2020 16:29 IST

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