Nirmala Sitaraman warns of economic downfall due to Covid

The spread of Covid-19 or novel Coronavirus has affected world economy and India is no exception. On Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, during a GST Council meet said that the pandemic has had a deep and negative impact on Goods and Services collection Tax (GST) simultaneously affecting the country’s economy. According to Sitaraman, there is a shortfall of Rs 2.31 lakh crore for the fiscal year 2021.

The minister further stated that the pandemic was ‘an act of God’ which has led to an extraordinary situation in Indian economy.

In the five hour meet, representatives from all states were present. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary at the Finance Ministry was also present for the Thursday meet. He said that there was hardly any GST collection during the months of April and May which had left the government at a fix.

Over the past few months, opposition parties have also been criticizing the central government for the inefficient way in which the economy was handled post the nationwide lockdown which began on 24 March this year.

India, one of the most affected countries due to spread of Covid, has been witnessing a heavy rise in number of Covid cases. Over 33 lakh cases has already been recorded in the country. The numbers are expected to rise in coming weeks.

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