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Centre's policy measures helped India deal with crises: Nirmala Sitharaman

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Policy measures undertaken by the NDA-led government helped the country navigating through the challenges like Covid pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, followed by inflation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday at an event here.

These measures included Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), good and services tax (GST), various banking reforms and corporate tax reduction, among others.

Speaking at the Iconic Day Celebrations under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the minister said the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for free dry ration to 80 crore poor people every month, Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) and the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) have received global appreciation.

Citing a study, she said the probability of people cutting down consumption utilities has declined by 75% across the country due to PMGKY. The scheme also reduced the probability of borrowing money by 67% of all the beneficiaries.

Also, as of March 2022, loans sanctioned under ECLGS scheme have crossed Rs 3.19 lakh crore, said Sitharaman while further adding that the scheme has now been extended till 2023.

Besides this, Ajay Seth, Economic Affairs Secretary, said the government and RBI are taking both the fiscal and monetary measures to moderate inflation and push growth. His response came after the RBI hiked repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.9% to contain the raging inflation.

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