Indian COVID-19 cases near 7M, shrinks economy by 9.5%

The Indian Central Bank has projected that the economy would contract by 9.5% this fiscal year as the Covid-19 cases near seven million mark.

This was stated by the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das, after a meeting of India’s monetary policy committee on Friday October 9, 2020.

“The Indian economy is entering into a decisive phase in the fight against the pandemic,” he said.

He explained that, For the year 2020-21 as a whole, real GDP is expected to decline by 9.5 per cent, with risks tilted to the downside.

“If, however, the current momentum of upturn gains ground, a faster and stronger rebound is eminently feasible,” Das added.

He said the meeting unanimously decided to “leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 4%.”

Das continued that, “By all indications, the deep contractions of Q1:2020-21 are behind us; silver linings are visible in the flattening of the active caseload curve across the country.”

India’s already-battered economy took a fresh hit with the pandemic and the related economic fallout.

The country ground to a halt after it imposed a nationwide lockdown in March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In June, the country started to resume economic activities in a phased manner.