RBI extends safety net; response proactive, loaded and well timed

RBI meant strict business, with a focus on alleviating financing constraints for economic stakeholders at the grass root level bearing a disproportionate burden of the ravaging Covid second wave

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its special address today meant strict business, with a chiselled focus on alleviating financing constraints for economic stakeholders at the grass root level bearing a disproportionate burden of the ravaging second wave of COVID in the country. Wide ranging in scope, these stakeholders included: 1) On the retail side small individual borrowers; 2) On the business side, small business borrowers and MSMEs; 3) Among financial entities – Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and MFIs; and 4) On the sectoral side – Health/healthcare sector. Despite RBI’s stepped-up efforts, support to the widely crippled contact-intensive services