India staring at a GDP contraction of 10%, says former finance secretary

Lockdown 1 and 2 turned out to be extremely severe, though agriculture and government expenditure, which constitute about 25% of GVA, remained almost unaffected, writes Subhash Chandra Garg

Former finance and economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on Tuesday said that India is staring at a GDP contraction of 10 per cent in FY21 and that a well-targeted stimulus could have saved businesses and workers. Garg in a blog titled, "Lockdown, Stimulus, and Growth: Is India Staring at a Large GDP Contraction in 2020-21?" said, "a close examination of Rs 21 trillion economic stimulus package suggests that fiscal measures amount to only Rs 1.45 trillion (or about .7% of GDP). A lot of hopes were raised when the Prime Minister announced Rs 20 trillion package. However, in the