NEW DELHI: India’s economic recovery is likely to be gradual as the country is still reeling from the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) and rising infections continue to pose a risk, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. However, the latest data suggests some stabilisation in economic activities in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, he said while addressing the FICCI National Executive Committee Meeting through video conferencing. “High-frequency indicators of agricultural activity, the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for manufacturing and certain private estimates for unemployment point to some stabilisation of economic activity. The contraction in many other sectors is simultaneously easing,” said Das. “But the recovery is not yet fully entrenched. In some sectors, the optics noticed in June and July appear to have leveled off. By all indications, the recovery is likely to be gradual as efforts towards reopening of the economy are confronted with rising infections,” he added. Das said the RBI stands battle-ready and whatever measures are required will be taken up. His comments came days after official data showed the country’s GDP contracted by a record 23.9 per cent in the April to June period.
