{"id":65388,"date":"2020-03-26T10:28:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T10:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=65388"},"modified":"2020-03-26T10:28:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T10:28:31","slug":"india-coronavirus-22bn-bailout-announced-for-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/business\/economy\/india-coronavirus-22bn-bailout-announced-for-the-poor.html","title":{"rendered":"India coronavirus: $22bn bailout announced for the poor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nIndia has announced a $22bn (\u00a319bn) bailout for the country\u2019s poor to help counter the economic effects of the Covid-19 outbreak.
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\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want anyone to remain hungry, and we don\u2019t want anyone to remain without money in their hands,\u201d finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
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\nThe package, which includes free food and cash transfers, was for \u201cthose who need immediate help\u201d, she said.
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\nShe also said health workers would get medical insurance of up to $66,500.
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\nCorrespondents point out that this amounts to just 1% of India’s GDP – in stark contrast to the US and Singapore which are spending about 10% of their GDP on similar packages.
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\n‘I fear hunger may kill us before coronavirus’
\nIs India prepared for a coronavirus outbreak?
\nHowever, this could be just stage one, with similar packages set to be announced later, they added.
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\nIndia\u2019s economy was already in the midst of a severe slowdown before the country went into lockdown, shutting workplaces, factories and affecting millions of daily-wage and informal workers.
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\nThey form India’s vast informal sector, which constitutes a large part of its workforce. The lockdown and social distancing have left many of them with no viable means of getting any income, and many have expressed fears that they could starve.
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\nGrowth had slumped to 4.7% last month – the slowest pace in years – as a steep drop in manufacturing affected overall economic health.
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\nBarclays said the total shutdown cost to India would be around $120bn, or 4% of the country’s GDP.
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\nMs Sitharaman, who is also the head of an economic task force announced by the prime minister, said that workers under an employment guarantee scheme would get a wage increment, and that recipients of other welfare schemes would also get benefits, like free gas cylinders instead of just subsidised ones.
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