Securing India's fiscal health

Govt should prepare for medium-term challenges

The decline in the number of Covid cases over the past several weeks in large parts of the country has allowed state governments to gradually relax restrictions on mobility and economic activity. The idea of allowing state governments to impose and lift restrictions, depending on the caseload, has been significantly less damaging for economic activity than during the nationwide lockdown last year. A lower than expected decline in economic activity during the second wave also helped government finances and placed the Union government in a comfortable position compared to last year, when revenue collection had virtually collapsed.

The data released by