Best of BS Opinion: Rs 20-trn stimulus, govt's borrowing plan, and more

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

The headline point of the prime minister’s 35-minute sonorous address to the nation – his fifth since the Covid-19 lockdown began -- was a Rs 20 trillion economic package with its alliterative focus on “land, labour, liquidity and laws”. What exactly does this massive spending entail? The granular details are awaited from the finance minister. Meanwhile, today’s opinion pages focus on the mundane: finance and infrastructure. Kanika Datta sums up the views

China has started pilot runs for a digital yuan, says Shyam Saran, and its monetary system could well become an exemplar for countries around the world. Read it here

With the government announcing that it will borrow 54 per cent more than planned Errol D’Souza and Astha Agarwalla explains why RBI should not directly finance government borrowings. Read it here

Building roads is a good thing but Covid-19 has shown the limitations of the country’s medical infrastructure. This urgently needs to be augmented in the months ahead too, says the top edit here

The idea of a bad bank rears its head again as the NPA crisis is expected to balloon. The second edit explains why this is a bad idea. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

‘People are saying that India stands to benefit as businesses will shift from China and come to India. But that may not be true. What happens if China depreciates its currency? In that case, Chinese products will be cheaper and people will continue to buy their products’

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee on why India may not be an attractive alternative investment destination