Why RBI has allowed one-time restructuring of corporate and personal loans

Like almost everywhere else, the ability of assets to earn returns in industries ranging from airlines, hotels and commercial real estate - from large firms to their small vendors - has been impaired

The true financial cost of Covid-19 is something India would rather not acknowledge, let alone bear — at least not until the pandemic has played out. 

That explains why the central bank on Thursday allowed a one-time restructuring of corporate and personal loans that have been under stress ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the country under a severe lockdown in March. 

Those nationwide restrictions have given way to more localised containment. But with India becoming only the third country after the US and Brazil to zoom past the 2-million-infection mark, it will be months before the authorities can