Coronavirus Can Throw Economy Into A Tailspin

Aggressive stimulus policies would be required to help industry and unorganised sector workers

- Sangita Reddy

In the name of Corona, people have died, establishments have closed, communities stay at home and countries have shut down their borders. Never before, in the last 100 years has a pandemic of this magnitude threatened life, sanity, routines and economies, and the worst is not yet over. But let’s fight and conquer this together.

India’s response has been pro-active (started on January 17), comprehensive and effectively led by the government. Aided by some reaction time to study other countries and the fact that we have very few direct flights to China, we may hopefully emerge relatively unscathed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation has suggested ways to deal with the situation through strong resolve and patience as the pandemic is set to impact the social life and economy in a big way. The only way is to stand together as a nation and face Covid-19 challenge in a resolute manner.

A survey conducted among FICCI member companies and associations between March 15-19, has shown a significant 53 per cent of Indian businesses witnessing marked impact of the coronavirus pandemic on business operations even at early stages.

Corporate India’s role