NEW DELHI: Economic affairs secretary
Tarun Bajaj on Tuesday said that economic recovery had been better than what most economists and experts had estimated and indicated that finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman may soon take more steps to boost activity.
Bajaj reeled out numbers ranging from the latest
PMI estimate to a 12% rise in
power demand, food credit and
toll collections to argue that the economy was getting back on track. “We are seeing improvement in all parameters and we expect further improvement in November,” the top finance ministry bureaucrat said.
In an interview, Sitharaman had told TOI on Monday, that there was a steady improvement in economic parameters. October has seen buoyant auto sales and GST collections have risen over 10%, indicating that demand has returned, at least for the manufacturing sector. Bajaj said things were improving on the services front too and the data was being closely watched. He, however, did not comment on the government’s growth and deficit estimates for the year.
“I should also mention that
Covid cases are seeing a downtrend, the fatality rate is down, and now they are close to about 5 lakh cases. In case we keep taking precautions during coming winter months and especially during festival season, I think we should be in better times.”
Asked about further stimulus, Bajaj said, “We are actually discussing that. It is difficult for me to commit a date but we have received a lot of requests and comments from various sectors and we are looking into it. Very soon it will be unveiled. The FM will come out and speak on that.”