Friday : June 26,2020 at 5:00 pm

In conversation with
1)  Dr. M. Govinda Rao  
Member, Fourteenth Finance Commission,
Government of India.
Former Director,
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

2) Prof. Himani Baxi
Programme Chair - Integrated MBA
Assistant Professor , Economics & Public policy,
Amrut Mody School Of Management
Ahmedabad University


The unprecedented COVID - 19 crisis has severely impacted the economy leading to losses in both lives and livelihoods.  In order to counter the downturn, the Indian Government came up with a fiscal stimulus worth Rs 20 lakh crore (10 % of GDP) to support agriculture, industry, MSME, labourers,etc.

However, the stimulus  has raised more questions than answers. Some economists say that the actual scale of the stimulus is much smaller in magnitude and questioned its effectiveness to revive the Indian economy. Others have raised concerns over sources of financing the stimulus and add the burden lies with the already ailing banking system. The crisis has also raised questions over the relationships between Central and State Governments.

There cannot be a better person than Prof Govinda Rao to answer these questions given his wide experience in India's policy making and research. He has written on these topics extensively.  The Conversation series invites all students of economics and those interested in economics to join us in what promises to be a fascinating discussion.