New Delhi, March 27:  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth will be affected due to COVID-19 impact. In his address, the RBI Governor said that the outlook is highly uncertain and negative amid the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed 17 lives so far in India. The RBI Chief's press conference comes after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 1.07 lakh crore relief package for the poor on Thursday. Catch live updates Here.

Das added saying that India has locked down economic activity due to which financial activity is under severe stress. He said keeping finance flowing is the paramount objective of the RBI. Das added saying that COVID-19 stocks the global economy and the outlook is highly uncertain & negative. "Several nations are battling its exponential contagion. Countries are shutting down to prevent being sucked into a kind of black hole", the Governor said.

Das said the outlook is now heavily contingent upon the intensity, spread & duration of the pandemic. He added saying that there is a rising probability that large parts of the world will slip into recession. "MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) noted that global economic activity has come to a near stand-still as COVID-19 related lockdowns & social distancing in affected countries. Expectations of a shallow recovery in 2020 from 2019's decade low in global growth have been dashed", Das added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2020 10:32 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).