India will provide 20 trillion rupees ($266 billion) in fiscal and monetary measures to support the economy which has been battered by a sweeping weeks-long lockdown to fight Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
With a new set of rules, the prime minister said the order to stay at home would be extended beyond May 17. The package was equivalent to 10 percent of the country’s GDP.
Around $22.6 billion was being provided by the government in March in direct food security measures and cash transfers. The package was mainly for the needy. However, it was widely accused of doing too small.
Reforms of land and labour markets, as well as details of the new package, would be released within days.
The March allocation and liquidity measures the central bank announced worth 6.5 trillion rupees included in the new package, according to economists. From 7.8 trillion, borrowing programme increased by India last week for the year to 12 trillion rupees to fund some of the expenses.
