Government at the risk of facing an increased fiscal deficit in times of COVID-19
Since the COVID-19 patients have been discovered in India the onus lies on the central government on how to cope with this adversity. It has already imposed a lockdown of 21 days and whether to continue with this lockdown is its decision. Two former governors of RBI, Raghuram Rajan, and Urjit Patel have come up with their views. As per Urjit Patel, India cannot do what developed economies are doing to stop the lack of demand caused due to the COVID-19 lockdown. He is worried about the impact on the macroecono mic stability of India of such policies. They can issue more cash into the economy but this can also cause inflation. Apart from an increase in inflation, if the government issues more cash into the economy, there will be an increase in fiscal deficit for the government. Pressure will be more on the state government because of the high spending if the central government faces a deficit. A high fiscal deficit could lead to high debt causing a fall in the value of the rupee. ...