It was reported in August 2020 that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prescribed a set of reforms to get the economy back on track after it announced various measures to counter the disruptions due to lockdowns, including targeted sops for employment generation, concrete plan to rein in fiscal deficit, and selling assets to improve liquidity. In its annual report for FY 2020 the RBI stated that behavioural changes due to the pandemic would make recovery ‘bumpy’ and different from the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008.
The RBI suggested realignment of incentives for industries with productive labour-intensive companies for employment generation. Deep-seated and wide-ranging structural reforms would be needed to regain potential losses like in product markets, the financial sector, legal architecture, and in international competitiveness. The economy may shrink from above 5 to 25 per cent till June quarter. So, resource augmentation is essential in the face of fiscal deficit, expected to jump to 7.5 per cent of GDP from ideal 3 per cent.
Besides, targeted public investment, funded by asset monetisation via sale of steel, coal, power, land, and railway assets and privatisation of major ports by the central and state governments was recommended. The RBI explained upon the need for global standard infrastructure and efficiency in the bankruptcy process to tackle insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) reforms.
As for stimulus measures like loan moratoriums and rate cuts, the Central Bank opined they cannot be prolonged due to their inflationary effect.
Courtesy: moneycontrol.com