IN THE HOT SEAT

NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, 61 Despite the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus, the challenge of reviving the economy is still daunting

- M.G. ARUN

This year, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has had the unenviable task of nursing the Covid-stricken economy back to health. The challenge is compounded by the fact that the Indian economy was tottering even before Covid-19 arrived— at 4.1 per cent in the Oct-Dec 2019 quarter, GDP growth was at its slowest in a decade. Now, with GDP growth at -23.9 per cent and -7.5 per cent in the first two quarters of this fiscal year, the economy is technically in recession. Though growth is expected to turn positive in the third quarter, it will probably be a while before it returns to its trend level of 5-6 per cent.