Task Force To Be Set Up To Review Economic Fallout Of COVID-19: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the nation on the fast-spreading coronavirus said that a task force will be set up to deal with the economic challenges arising from the pandemic. The COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force, to be headed by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will engage with all the stakeholders and take appropriate decisions, PM Modi added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe problems for people from middle and lower income groups, PM Modi pointed out, and appealed to the business community and people belonging to the higher income group to be sensitive to the economic interests of the people whose services they avail. He also made a fervent appeal not to cut the wages of people who may not be in a position to report to work because of health reasons.

The Prime Minister also advised the nation not to resort to panic buying and said that the government is taking several measures to ensure that there is no shortage of milk, food items, medicines and essential commodities. "Do not hoard food and other items - we are taking steps to ensure no shortage," PM Modi said.

Mr Modi announced a junta curfew between 7 am and 9 pm on Sunday, so as to minimize the possibility of crowding and thereby promote social distancing, which is currently the most effective means of arresting the spread of COVID-19.

The Indian equity benchmarks have suffered severe losses as fears of fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic have sparked worries about the global economy falling into recession.

The markets succumbed to losses for the fourth day on Thursday, amid a broad-based selloff, as the coronavirus pandemic kept investors worried about the possibility of a global recession. The Sensex and Nifty 50 indexes have so far this year crashed over 15 per cent.