Covid-19: Economic package to be announced as soon as possible, says FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said an economic package for the coronavirus-hit sectors will be announced "as soon as possible".

The minister, however, did not give any timeline by when the package will be unveiled.

Sitharaman was speaking to reporters after meeting ministers and officials of civil aviation, animal husbandry, tourism and MSME ministries to take stock of the situation following the Covid-19 outbreak.

"I had a meeting with tourism, MSME, civil aviation, animal husbandry sectors. These ministries presented assessment of their sector after consultation with their stakeholders.

"We had a detailed discussion in the presence of the Finance Secretary and Economic Affairs Secretary. We are compiling their suggestions," she said after the four-hour meeting here.

The ministry will hold an internal meeting on Saturday to firm up the action plan to deal with the crisis, she added.

When asked by when the package will be announced, she said "it will be difficult to give timeline but it will be done as soon as possible."
Asked about relief measures for the financial sector, Sitharaman said, "SEBI has come up with a list of regulations which will also sort of keep the markets a bit stable. But I can't say what I am doing for the markets. At the moment, we are at a critical stage of collecting everybody's inputs and also the ministry is working in detail about all the inputs which have come."
Minister of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairying Giriraj Singh said, "Livestock industry has been hit badly because of the coronavirus outbreak. We discussed various kinds of measures, including loan restructuring, that can help people engaged in this sector."