There is no financial emergency, economic fears unfounded, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

There is no economic emergency in India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman said today, allaying fears that the economy may not be financially equipped to deal with the fallout of the global coronavirus pandemic.

She announced that the Economic Task Force will soon release a relief package to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

Sitharaman also brought in a slew of measures in an effort to boost the economy, including extending tax deadlines, easing business rules, and waiving off bank charges.


The finance minister announced that debit card holders can now withdraw cash from ATMs of any bank free of charge, for the next three months. Minimum balance requirement has also been done away with for this period.

The FM extended the last day of filing returns for the financial year 2018-19 to June 30, 2020. The Vivaad se Vishwaas scheme was also extended to the same date, with no additional charge of 10%.

The Aadhaar-pan linking date has also been extended to June 30 from March 31.