Fiscal Stimulus

China's local governments could sell more than $229 billion of bonds to fund infrastructure investment and plug budget gaps

With the latest round of repo rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), all the pandemic rate cuts have now been reversed

The move was expected to bolster infrastructure spending in the world's second-largest economy, where stringent Covid-19 lockdowns have led to a slump in demand

Biden, a Democrat, approved the $1.9 trillion "American Rescue Plan" in March 2021

Lower fiscal deficit during H1 implies that the economy is, slowly but surely, getting back on the rails, it said

The Union government is so fiscally ineffective that it can only spend an incremental 0.4 per cent of GDP on healthcare in a pandemic, against a global average of 1.2 per cent, writes Rathin Roy

Relief package is well-intentioned but won't move the needle much

The government is conscious of the intensity of the second wave of Covid-19 and is assessing its full impact before coming out with further packages and interventions, says FM Sitharaman

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for Wednesday

Govt must focus on providing relief to the needy at this point

Scheme removes the ceiling of outstanding loans of Rs 500 crore, keeps government's guarantee cover of Rs 3 trillion.

Bharat is suffering on multiple counts

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for Friday

Government must now step up expenditure to boost demand for private investment and consumption, said RBI

The government has begun assessing the impact of the second wave of infections on different sectors and may look at providing support at an appropriate time to segments requiring fiscal help

Bold measures will be required to emerge stronger from the crisis, said the report, 'State of Working India 2021: One Year of Covid-19,' released on Wednesday by Azim Premji University

"The impact on GDP would not be significant due to lockdowns in some states and the estimates made in the Budget have been conservative," said another government official

The impact of restrictions will be felt on retail loans-banks as well as NBFCs and HFCs

Biden is joining top messengers already crisscrossing the country to highlight the benefits of his massive COVID-19 rescue plan, in his case by promoting aid for small businesses

The European Central Bank said Thursday it will step up its bond-buying stimulus in the coming months