The extent to which the economy of Tamil Nadu has been affected due to the spread of COVID-19 and how fast the State could recover depended on when the lockdown would be lifted, said former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) C. Rangarajan on Thursday.

Mr. Rangarajan is the chairperson of the high-level committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government to advise on the short and medium-term responses to COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu.

Talking to reporters after chairing the first meeting of the 24-member high-level committee at Madras School of Economics at Kotturpuram in Chennai, Mr. Rangarajan said that the report of the panel would be submitted to the Government within three months. Asked whether there would be an interim report, he said: “If there is a need, we will give an interim report. We have not taken a decision on that.”

The committee would look at the immediate responses needed as well as responses needed in the next two to three years, he said. “No decision was taken (today) since this was the first meeting. All members were present for the meeting and some were present through video conference. All of them gave their comments," he said.

The panel was to discuss the extent to which the economy of Tamil Nadu has been affected and what were the measures needed to address this and also look at the possibility of economic reforms needed for the cause, he said.

Several sub-groups have been constituted to look into specific issues facing various sectors, he added.