Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday that the COVID-19 pandemic caused the biggest contraction in the Indian economy but the government managed to maintain retail inflation at 6.2 per cent.
The Finance Minister, while replying to the discussion on the General Budget in the Rajya Sabha, said that the budget for the financial year 2022-23 is for continuity, taxation estimation and to bring stability in the economy. He said the objective of the budget is to provide a stable and sustainable stimulus to the economy.
He compared the performance of the UPA government during the global financial crisis of 2008-09, saying that the retail inflation rate during that global financial crisis was 9.1 per cent, while it was 6.2 per cent during the COVID pandemic, while its impact on the economy was much greater. Is kept.
The Finance Minister said that the biggest contraction occurred in the Indian economy due to the Kovid epidemic. He said the Indian economy suffered a loss of Rs 9.57 lakh crore due to the pandemic as against Rs 2.12 lakh crore in 2008-09 during the global recession.
He said that capital expenditure gives many times more returns as compared to revenue expenditure and hence the government has emphasized on increasing public capital expenditure to boost the economy.
Sitharaman said that the government is also promoting startups which led to the establishment of many ‘unicorns’ during the pandemic.