New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday in a press conference announced a number of measures to boost the economy in order to overcome the covid-19 crisis.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said," There is nothing in, what FM said, for lakhs of poor, hungry migrant workers who have been walking to their homes.This is a cruel blow to those who toil every day. This govt is a prisoner of its own ignorance and fears."
Govt must spend more, borrow more, and allow states to borrow more; but it is not willing to do so, Chidambaram added.
PM Narendra Modi said,"Today’s announcements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will go a long way in addressing issues faced by businesses, especially MSMEs. The steps announced will boost liquidity, empower the entrepreneurs and strengthen their competitive spirit."
Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar lauded Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's "outstanding follow-up" to the Prime Minister's stimulus announcement, saying the measures taken for MSMEs will boost their size as well as resolve many other problems.
"#MSMEs are crucial for the creation of an #AatmanirbharBharat and the measures announced today will surely lead to a boost in the size & scale of #MSMEs as well as resolve problems of bankruptcy and insolvency faced by many enterprises," Kumar tweeted.
SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar said the policy bouquet unveiled by the government is well-structured, suitably targeted, within reasonable fiscal limits, but will still have the maximum impact.
"The measures for MSME through guarantees, equity infusion and debt support will incentivize bank lending to MSMEs as well as providing crucial support to stressed entities in the current situation," Kumar said.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said, "Finance Minister has unveiled an impactful package under the first tranche of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan as demanded by the very dire economic circumstances we are in due to Covid-19.
The first phase targets the key sectors of MSME, employee provident fund, Discoms, and taxation among other major areas that are the most impacted.
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The six measures announced by Hon’ble Finance Minister for MSME sector are very well targeted and meet the immediate as well as longer term requirements of the sector.
CII had suggested that credit be provided for MSME without collateral requirement and with a guarantee from the Government. The proposal to make the delayed payments from Government and PSEs to MSME was a long-standing request of industry.
ASSOCHAM Secretary General Deepak Sood said,"The first tranche of measures announced by Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman today, as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package by the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi, would provide immediate and the much-needed relief to the MSMEs, micro finance institutions, housing finance companies, stressed real estate and construction sectors to mitigate the enormous impact of the nation-wide lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic."
Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI said,"Listening to Finance Minister &the series of measures spelt out gave us confidence that our govt is ready&will lead from the front in taking India out of the COVID19 storm&emerge stronger."
The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association Of India (ACMA) also reiterated its long pending demand of uniform GST rate of 18 per cent on all vehicles and auto components.
ACMA President Deepak Jain said,"Change in definition of MSMEs has been a long-standing recommendation of ACMA. With this new classification, a significant number of ACMA members stand to benefit as the sector is dominated by smaller Enterprises."
The automaker said the Rs 20 lakh crore financial package announced by the government would encourage industry to resume business operations.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor Senior Vice President, Sales and Services, Naveen Soni said,"We hope, through this new stimulus and the likely reforms, the industry will be able to iron out bottlenecks pertaining to liquidity, supply chain, demand, labour related issues and restore the economy in an effective manner."
"The declaration of Covid 19 as Force Majure, extension of timelines for completion of project under the RERA, are crucial announcements for the developer community," CREDAI Chairman Jaxay Shah and President Satish Magar said in a joint statement.
They are hopeful that the finance minister will soon announce other necessary measures by infusion of liquidity, de-cartelization of cement prices, restoration of supply chain to ease construction on the project sites and help uplift the demand by giving more sops to homebuyers by increasing the tax deduction limits for interest on home loans.
R Gandhi, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India said,"There are three important ways in which today's announcement differs from the earlier once, first is the fund flow to NBFCs be against the guarantee given by the central bank. Second, because of the Bank guarantee if the borrower do not repay the amount the bank will now get it from the government. Third is earlier the banks prefered only AAA or AA rated bonds but now banks will have confidence in investing even the unrated instruments."
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
