 "Aditi Nayar")
The impact of the Covid-19 health crisis and the associated lockdowns on the economy had been awaited with bated breath by economists and non-economists alike. The National Statistical Office (NSO) has now published its initial estimates for the April – June 2020 quarter of the fiscal 2020-21 (Q1FY21), which peg the year-on-year (YoY) contraction in GDP and GVA at 2011-12 prices at a historic low 23.9 per cent and 22.8 per cent, respectively, similar to our forecast of a 25 per cent shrinkage in Indian economic activity during the lockdown quarter.
On the production side, construction, manufacturing and trade, hotels,
