Bailouts worldwide 10 times bigger than Indian GDP

Rescue packages announced by governments across the world to counter the economic downturn has crossed $10 trillion (about Rs 50,00,000 crore) -- an amount equivalent to nearly 10 times the size of the Indian economy.

The amount is believed to growing even bigger as there is no end in sight for the turmoil.

However, the multi-billion dollar stimulus package announced by India is much small - still in single digit - as the impact of the crisis is not considered as great as in other countries.

The much-awaited package, announced yesterday, included an additional spending of Rs 20,000 crore ($4 billion) and duty cuts worth Rs 8,700 crore ($1.7 billion). Some additional funding and guarantee provisions take the total package to a little over Rs 30,000 crore (about $6 billion).

The package has been cobbled together with some public expenditure, channelising of bank spending and reduction in excise duty.

A lion's share of about three-fourth of the worldwide bailout package of about $10.1 trillion has come from the world's biggest economy, the US, whose total national debt has also incidentally crossed the $10 trillion-mark.

The size of the entire Indian economy, where the impact of global crisis has been relatively less disastrous, pales at about $1 trillion.

These bailouts, in both developed and developing world have turned severe after the fall of Lehman Brothers, coming in various forms of financial stimulus by the governments across the world -- be it ploughing in fresh money into a crisis-ridden institution, bringing them under the government's fold or other fiscal measures.