FM not averse to providing further economic stimulus, says source

Asserts that recent trends of economic recovery are testimony to government's intervention

Rebutting criticism that the government is tight-fisted, a top finance ministry source said on Friday that recent trends of economic recovery bear the testimony of timely intervention by the government to mitigate the fallout from Covid-induced lockdown. Claiming that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is not averse to taking further measures to ease the financial distress of the people, the source said the government is exploring all possibilities.

Swift steps taken by the government and recent trends of economic recovery – increase in GST collection, purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for manufacturing, and exports among other numbers – countered the myth of tightfistedness,