Question : GDP Growth Rate

(a) whether it is a fact that the economists have been calling for large stimulus packages amounting to double-digit percentages of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), despite the strain on the exchequer;

(b) if so, whether GDP has shrunk by 23.9 percent in the first quarter of the financial year 2020-21 against 5.2 percent growth in Q1 2019-20 and has dipped by (minus) 27.11 percent in August 2020; and

(c) the details of constructive action plan that has been taken for improving the GDP growth rate?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION AND MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) & (b): Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices (2011-12) contracted by 23.9 per cent during first quarter (Q1) of 2020-21, against 5.2 per cent growth in Q1 of 2019-20. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has not estimated GDP for August 2020. The Government has announced a special economic and comprehensive package of Rs. 20 lakh crores - equivalent to 10 per cent of India’s GDP – to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

(c): The Government has implemented several measures to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy which, inter-alia, include: relief measures for households in kind and cash transfers; wage increase for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers and support for building and construction workers, collateral free loans to self-help groups, reduction in EPF contributions, employment provision for migrant workers; credit facilities for street vendors under PM SVANidhi; relief measures for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); postponing tax-filing and other compliance deadlines; and structural reforms announced as part of the Atmanirbhar Package etc.

*****