"Difficult To Give Timeline": Nirmala Sitharaman On Coronavirus Relief Plan

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said an economic package for the coronavirus-hit sectors will be announced "as soon as possible".

The minister, however, did not give any timeline by when the package will be unveiled.

"I had a meeting with tourism, MSME, civil aviation, animal husbandry sectors. These ministries presented assessment of their sector after consultation with their stakeholders.We had a detailed discussion in the presence of the Finance Secretary and Economic Affairs Secretary. We are compiling their suggestions," Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters in Delhi.

The ministry will hold an internal meeting on Saturday to firm up the action plan to deal with the crisis, she added.

When asked by when the package will be announced, she said "it will be difficult to give timeline but it will be done as soon as possible."

The finance minister also said the task force announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is yet to be constituted.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation had said the government is setting up a "Covid-19 Economic Response Task Force" to decide on relief package for sectors hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

"Task force is not yet constituted but keeping in mind the sense of urgency, the ministry had this meeting. Of course when the task force is constituted it will also get the benefit of these meetings. Other ministries are also sending us their suggestions," she said.

Asked about relief measures for the financial sector, Ms Sitharaman said, "SEBI has come up with a list of regulations which will also sort of keep the markets a bit stable. But I can't say what I am doing for the markets. At the moment, we are at a critical stage of collecting everybody's inputs and also the ministry is working in detail about all the inputs which have come."