Junior Finance Minister Anurag Thakur submitted his report in the Rajya Sabha (File Photo)
Amid the Coronavirus or COVID-19 global pandemic, Anurag Thakur, the junior finance minister of the country claimed today that it will not have any adverse impact on the Indian economy. He cited the latest data on trade and indicators of domestic output to back his claim.
His remark comes at a time when the services and manufacturing sectors, airline industry, hotels, tourism and other key contributors to the economy are facing the backlash of the global pandemic.
The minister however, did acknowledge that India's short-term macro-economic outlook seems vulnerable.
"As is true for the world at large, India's near-term macro-economic outlook is vulnerable to disruption of trade with China and 2nd-round effects arising from an expected slowdown in global growth. However, the latest available data on trade and indicators of domestic output don't suggest any adverse impact on the economy," Mr Thakur said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
His statement further said "Additionally, a positive impact on India's economy may arise from a decline in global oil prices triggered by the outbreak of COVID19," he added.
Mr Thakur, who works directly under Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said that "In order to address possibility of trade-induced adverse impact on economy, the government is constantly engaging with Expert Promotion Councils and trade bodies, particularly in pharmaceutical, electronics and automobile sectors where supply chains are sourcing imports from China."
"These agencies put in touch with Indian Missions abroad to secure and transport inventories available with existing suppliers. Indian Missions abroad have been asked to explore alternate sources of supply of raw material for supporting India's domestic production," he said.
"With regards to domestic availability of fertilisers, the impact of COVID19 seems to be negligible at juncture and situation of forthcoming fertiliser imports at various ports being observed closely," he added.
(Inputs from ANI)