The Impact of COVID-19 on the Indian Economy Webinar
On 8 April, UKIBC’s Chris Heyes welcomed Mr Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General at FICCI, Dr Ajit Ranade, Chairman at FICCI Economic Forum and President and Chief Economist at Aditya Birla Group, and Jidesh Kumar, Managing Partner at King Stubb & Kasiva for an incredibly informative webinar discussing ‘The Impact of Covid-19 on the Indian Economy’.
Mr Dilip Chenoy presented the recent findings of the FICCI survey looking at the impact of COVID-19 on businesses in India on a sector-specific level. He also discussed the measures the Government of India (GOI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have taken over the past few weeks, and although these have been beneficial to businesses in India, FICCI has also submitted some further recommendations to the GOI and RBI. Dilip discussed how FICCI is supporting a variety of government initiatives such as those in healthcare, socio-economic development, and the states.
Following this, Jidesh Kumar delved a little deeper into some of the steps the GOI has taken to date. He explored three main points: the Indian government response to COVID-19, the response by the courts and tribunals, and unanswered issues for manufacturing and services businesses across India and globally. Jidesh was also able to share some of the common businesses challenges his clients were facing during this time.
Finally, Dr Ajit Ranade reported on the effects of the lockdown in India from an economic stance. Dr Ranade explained the severe stress the fiscal situation in India is expected to undergo. To combat these issues, RBI may need to consider an extension of measures such as T-LTRO, forbearance of loans and higher OMOs.
Possible long-term effects of COVID-19 highlighted by Dr Ranade include de-globalisation or diversification of value chains, unconventional fiscal and monetary policies, severe loss of confidence in economies, structural increase in healthcare spends across economies, and extreme risk aversion, which is currently being seen in EM markets.
Many thanks to our brilliant speakers and to all who joined the webinar live! If you were unable to join, we invite you to watch the webinar below for more valuable information.
