Let the Budget go down to people before talking about stimulus: Sitharaman

Finance Minister says Budget 2021-22 has been designed keeping in mind the necessity for stimulus.

Budget 2021-22 is designed to help India's economy in the Covid-19 pandemic and calls for a stimulus could be premature, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told 'Times of India' in an interview on Monday.

"We’re just in May, even the first quarter is not over. The budget, which is designed for a Covid-affected economy, will have to go down to people. We’re not even taking that on board, and we’ve started talking about where is the big deal stimulus?" Sitharaman said, responding to criticism that the government is not announcing a stimulus to deal with the pandemic's economic impact. 

"I am going to have review next week. People should start spending on the ground. After that if they need more, I am willing to give. But not even two months of the financial year are complete yet."

She told the newspaper that schemes like the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECGLS) and Swamih Fund announced for the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign are still being used. 

The government is willing to give out more but demand has to improve and it has to study the economic impact of the second wave of Covid-19.

"The kind of increase that we saw last year is not there. There are things happening and that is why I said we have not made a final call on what is the impact of the second wave yet on the economy," she said.

The government is continuously assessing the situation which keeps changing from one week to other, she said.