IMF backs India's 'proactive' COVID-19 response

The International Monetary Fund Wednesday said that it supports India's proactive decision of a imposing a nationwide lockdown in its fight against coronavirus.

A day earlier, the IMF in its World Economic Outlook had forecast India's growth rate to be 1.9 per cent in 2020.

"India entered the pandemic turmoil in the midst of a credit crunch-induced slowdown and its recovery prospect becomes more uncertain," Chang Yong Rhee, the Director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, told reporters during a news conference here.

"Despite the economic slowdown, the government implemented a nationwide lockdown and we support India's proactive decision," Rhee said.

On March 25, India entered a three-week lockdown, which was slated to end on April 14. The lockdown was extended till May 3.

The impact of the coronavirus on the Asia-Pacific region will be severe, across the board, and unprecedented, he said, adding that Asia's growth in 2020 will come to a standstill.

This is worse than the annual average growth rates throughout the Global Financial Crisis (4.7 percent) or the Asian Financial Crisis (1.3 percent). Actually, Asia has not experienced zero growth in the last 60 years, he said. "That said, Asia's growth still fares better than other regions."