Finance Minister speaks to industry leaders: Covid wave 2 impact
Centre working with States to manage Covid
New Delhi, Apr 19 ( UNI) Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the Centre would continue to work with state governments to save lives and livelihood in view of the rising cases of coronavirus infections across the country.
The minister reached out to industry and business chambers and took their inputs on managing the impact of the pandemic.
“Spoke on telephone with each of the following business/Chamber leaders. Took their inputs on industry/Association related matters. Informed them that GoI at various levels from @PMOIndia is responding to #Covid management. Working together with states for lives and livelihoods,” she said in a tweet.
Industry chamber FICCI two days back had urged chief ministers of 25 States to avoid imposing lockdowns in the wake of fresh surge in COVID cases.
It argued that the economy has barely begun to turn around from the impact of the earlier lockdowns and such decisions now will push the economy into a downward spiral.
The economy contracted 23.9 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of the previous fiscal after the outbreak of the pandemic.
The finance minister earlier said that there is no plan for a national lockdown. The focus instead is on local containment to contain the spread of the virus.
”Even with the second wave, we are very clear that we are not going in for lockdowns in a big way. We don’t want to totally arrest the economy.
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