The coronavirus pandemic is likely to emerge as the biggest economic crisis faced by India since the emergency, says former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan.
“Economically speaking, India is faced today with perhaps its greatest emergency since independence,” Rajan said in a post about the pandemic on LinkedIn.
“The global financial crisis in 2008-09 was a massive demand shock, but our workers could still go to work, our firms were coming off years of strong growth, our financial system was largely sound, and our government finances were healthy. None of this is true today as we fight the coronavirus pandemic,” he further said.
Besides, the former RBI chief said that the crisis could be diminished with proper measures, prioritising repression and spending higher resources on the needy.
“With the right resolve and priorities, and drawing on India’s many sources of strength, it can beat this virus back, and even set the stage for a much hopeful tomorrow,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
