Govt may need Rs 5 trn more to boost economy hit by Covid-19: Subhash Garg

He also suggested that the government should directly borrow it from the RBI instead of borrowing from the market

The government may need to borrow at least 2 per cent of GDP or about Rs 4-5 trillion additionally for supporting people and businesses hit by the coronavirus and nationwide lockdown, finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has said.

"It seems necessary and advisable that the Government of India borrow this directly from the RBI instead of borrowing from the market. The FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act should be amended to enable this," he said.

For the current fiscal, the government plans to borrow Rs 7.8 trillion from the market and contain fiscal deficit at 3.5 per cent of the