RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das addressed the media on Friday to see how Indian will tackle the economy during the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic.
Admitting that the global economy will plunge into its greatest recession, Das said that India is expected to cling on to 1.9 per cent growth as estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Das even added that the contraction in exports at 34 per cent has turned out to be much worse than the 2008 global financial crisis and the Great Economic Depression of the 1930s.
Admitting that humanity was facing one of its toughest phases, Das said that the Reserve Bank of India has been very proactive and has been monitoring the system closely. "For 2020-21, the IMF projected sizable reshaped recoveries, close to 9 percentage points for the global GDP. India is expected to post a sharp turnaround & resume its pre-COVID-19, pre-slowdown trajectory by growing at 7.4% in 2020-21," he said, adding that India seen clinging on tenuously to positive growth, amid global recession projections by IMF. "India among handful countries projecting positive growth," he said.
Adding that the RBI will do what it takes to fix the problem, Das said, ""It has been decided to reduce the fixed reverse repo rate under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 4% to 3.75%, with immediate effect," he added.
Appreciating the health workers, police staff and other services that were provided at the frontline, Das said that banks and financial institutions have risen to the occasion and provided all the essential services.