Best of BS Opinion: Fiscal outlook under pressure, Covid-19 crisis and more

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces of the day

Even as Covid-19 cases continue to rise, Fitch Ratings has said that India's sovereign rating could come under pressure on account of deterioration in fiscal outlook. The government is unlikely to meet fiscal targets in the current year. Business Standard Opinion pieces for the day talk about the pandemic and other policy issues.

Under the circumstances, the government should neither care about the fiscal deficit targets set by the FRBM Act nor should it stop its expenditure for good ratings by any world rating agency, notes former finance minister Yashwant Sinha and Vinay K. Srivastava Read here

There is no reason why the state should distinguish between two forms of debt when it comes to taxation, especially when it is the relatively well-off who invest in mutual funds, notes our lead editorial Read here

Online retailing has long been a stepchild of economic policy, a fact that has been thrown into sharp relief during the national lockdown, says our second editorial Read here

The pandemic peaks will be lowered over time and thus, we need continuous flow of real-time state and national surveillance data for better research and understanding, writes Viraj Mahesh Vibhute and Aparajita Chattopadhyay Read here

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“There is no treatment for Covid-19 in India or anywhere else globally.”

Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry.