Pinning hopes on rapid vaccination drive, newly appointed Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said that abatement of the COVID-19 pandemic would kick in virtuous cycle investment leading to job creation. He said the government has taken various steps to support lower income categories. Naturally, he said, it will take time to regain confidence because the slowdown in consumption spending is not only a function of the lack of income growth, but also because of the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and health impact etc.
CEA said ‘So once the pandemic cloud itself is lifted, and many of the contact services come back into their pre-pandemic level...we hope that along with the various measures that the government has taken and private sector capex also kicking in, we will go into a virtuous circle of income generation and employment generation.’
Nageswaran said the construction sector is beginning to revive and that's one of the highest employers in the country. He expressed hope the consumption share of GDP which is about 97 per cent, compared to the pre-pandemic level, especially in the second half of the new financial year, should come back into stream assuming that the subsequent impacts of pandemic turns out to be ‘milder and milder’.
