Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian has said that the government is "using the time under lockdown" to come out with a "well-considered economic package".

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"The economic package is being worked on and should be coming out anytime soon," Subramanian said in an interview to CNN-News18.

The CEA added that the coronavirus-induced lockdown had taken a toll on both the demand side and the supply side problem, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

"We are working on providing significant liquidity to MSMEs to take care of their cash flow needs," he said.

He did not elaborate on the specifics of relief measures that may be announced for small businesses.

The government in late March announced an economic package to the tune of Rs 1.7 lakh crore, which included cash transfers especially for the poor.

Economists, however, have said more money is needed to alleviate the pain of an economy that has been brought to a virtual standstill for more than a month now.

The country has been under lockdown since March 24, which is slated to end on May 3. The government is weighing a staggered relaxation after that.

Highlighting the extent of deliberations into working out measures to deal with the disruption caused by the pandemic, Subramanian said that 200 slides have gone into incorporating all the suggestions.

"But because the economy is in lockdown, even if a package were to be brought out during the lockdown period, it will not change the demand conditions. So it's better to utilise this time period to come up with a well-considered package," the CEA said.

Subramanian added that the pandemic was a shock that "we had not seen in our lifetimes" but said he expects the economic recovery to be V-shaped, if one were to go by historical events such as the Spanish flu.

On calls that the government come out with a separate Budget to deal with the coronavirus shock, the CEA said that was a matter of "legalese" and that he would focus on measures that would help.

First Published:Apr 29, 2020 5:06 PM IST