Reserve Bank of India (RBI) executive director M Rajeshwar Rao has said that future economic policies need to be modified towards supporting the economy, depending on how effects of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic play out. He said the first set of responses from the RBI was to ensure that the markets continue to function and ensure solvency in the financial sector. He stated that several measures, including reduction in Cash Reserve Ratio, special finance facility, Long Term Repo Operations (LTRO) and Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) were announced. As a result of various measures, he said the RBI injected around Rs 6.5 lakh crore liquidity in the banking system during the pandemic.
Going forward, Rao said ‘we need to see how the impact is going to be there on the economic activities of the various players, and once we get a fix on this issue perhaps the policy responses could be appropriately tailored. We have to see how the situation evolves and based on evolving situation the policies could be suitably modified to address concerns.’ Emphasizing that the world and India will not remain in the grip of COVID-19 forever, he said not in a distinct future this pandemic will end through combination treatment, vaccination and achievement of herd immunity.
He further said once the immediate priority of addressing the health issues is sorted out, the second step could be to ensure sustainability of existing businesses. He also said ‘we need to approach stage-by-stage, so the first priority at this juncture is going to be the health and protection of the people, once we get a certain degree of comfort on that aspect, the second segment will come into play.’ With the policy interventions, he said, the interest rate on commercial and government borrowing have hit lowest in the decade. RBI's benchmark policy rate or repo rate has been brought down to 4 per cent, the lowest ever.
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