Covid-19’s economic impact at $1 trillion: UNCTAD

UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has estimated the economic impact of Covid-19 at a minimum of US$1 trillion in 2020.

In the wake of this grave situation, countries world over are giving priority to providing relief and support over fiscal discipline. For example, Britain unveiled a £330 billion stimulus package; Germany announced support of US$ 610 billion & France has guaranteed loans of US$335 billion, and $50 billion worth of other measures. The US has committed $1 trillion, in addition to $50 billion in financial aid to states, cities and territories, while Canada has announced a $56 billion aid package. Countries like Britain & Canada have also  lowered their interest rates by 0.5%.

Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman too is set to unveil GoI’s Covid-19 mitigation economic package. The relief package could be oriented towards the poor, unemployed and vulnerable sections such as contractual daily wage labourers, construction workers, street vendors, etc, as well as MSMEs. According to industry insiders, an income support of about Rs 7,500 a month could also be  credited to the bank accounts of low-income and informal workers for three months.