India’s Economy Will be Least Affected if Another COVID Wave Hits Country, Says Principal Economic Advisor

Sanjeev Sanyal said if the current economic speed of India remains intact, the employment losses that happened due to COVID shall cover-up within the next 9 months.

Budget 2022 Latest Update: Hours after addressing a press conference on Economic Survey 2022, Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Advisor, on Monday said India may not impose another lockdown as the chance for the same is less. He also added that the overall economy of the country will be least affected if another COVID wave hits the country.

“The probability of another lockdown is less. There is worldwide inflation currently, even in developed nations like USA, Argentina and Turkey, so India tends to get impacted. If another COVID-wave hits India, overall economic impact will be less,” Sanjeev Sanyal said.

Probability of another lockdown is less…there's worldwide inflation currently, even in developed nations like USA, Argentina &Turkey, so India tends to get impacted. If another COVID-wave hits India, overall economic impact will be less:Sanjeev Sanyal,Principal Economic Advisor pic.twitter.com/pby7vOzRyz

— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2022

Earlier in the day, Sanyal during a press conference said these have been difficult times for the world economy and added that it is not just about the immediate disruptions and uncertainty caused by repeated waves of the pandemic but also the longer-term uncertainty about the post-Covid world due to accelerated shifts in technology, consumer behaviour, supply-chains, geopolitics, climate change and a host of other factors.

Talking about the Economic Survey, Sanyal said huge job losses during the pandemic was a serious challenge before the government, so a safety net strategy was adopted to heal the badly affected job economy.

“With the various government schemes, the Centre is hopeful to bounce back in the employment market,” he said in the economic survey.

Using the data in the form of maps, the economic survey banks on the new developing start-up ecosystem in the country.

“You can see the startup culture in 2016-17 in India and in December, 2021, there is a sea change, as just a few years back we had few start-ups pockets in India, mostly around the metro cities, but now we have strong presence of start-ups innovation in states like Bihar, north-east,” Sanjeev Sanyal said when asked about how government counters the negative sentiments in the employment market.

“The most encouraging part is the capital expenditure by the central and many state governments, particularly in infrastructure development by 67 %, which has huge potential to create massive jobs, and this way we can tackle this challenge easily. Secondly, the positive growth in exports is a sign that our industry sector is getting on track,” said the principal economic advisor, when asked about the roadmap for employment generation in post-pandemic time.