Is the Modi government going to print new notes to deal with the economic crisis?

The Modi government has no intention of printing notes to deal with the economic crisis caused by the Covid pandemic. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified this in Parliament today. To a question whether there is any plan to print currency to deal with the crisis, the Finance Minister said, “No sir”.

Sitharaman said that with the relaxation of lockdown norms, key components of the economy remain strong. Also, due to the support given by the government under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission, the economy is moving ahead strongly on the path of recovery from the crisis since the second half of the financial year 2020-21.

The Finance Minister said that the fundamentals of the economy remain strong with the gradual scaling up of the lockdown. Many economists and experts have suggested to the central government that the printing of more notes should be resorted to strengthen the economy devastated due to Covid and to protect jobs.

According to PTI, the Finance Minister said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha that India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to decline by 7.3 percent during 2020-21. Nirmala Sitharaman told in Parliament that the government had announced an economic package of Rs 29.87 lakh crore under Atmanirbhar Bharat during the financial year 2020-21 to accelerate economic growth, deal with the impact of the pandemic and promote employment.

She said that the Committee’s (MPC) resolution dated June 4, 2021 has projected India’s real GDP to grow at 9.5 percent in 2021-22 as compared to its earlier estimate of 10.5 percent in the second wave.