Principal Economic Adviser, Sanjeev Sanyal talks to ET Now about the Centre’s pandemic response and why predictive models aren’t always useful. He argues that commiting to a plan right now could do more harm than good for India’s economy. Edited excerpts:
First let’s talk about the second COVID-19 wave, which seems to be receding right now but has left its mark on the country’s indicators. What is your assessment of the path ahead?
We went through a very difficult and disruptive second wave, so unsurprisingly many of India’s indicators have been thrown off. We are now back in an environment where cases have come down and we are able to open up. But, the exact trajectory the economy will take from here needs to be watched closely; I think we shouldn’t make a call right now, it would be better to wait and watch, see how the indicators behave once things have opened up properly.
However, unlike the first lockdown, the impact of the…
