New Delhi, April 17:  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced Rs 50,000 crore liquidity package, of which 50 percent will go to small industries and the rest to sectors struggling with liquidity, amid the coronavirus crisis. RBI Governor Shaktikanta also announced another package of Rs 50,000 crore for microfinance institutions - NABARD, CIDBI, NHB. He also informed that the reverse repo rate has been reduced by 25 basis points to 3.75 percent from 4 percent. Meanwhile, this is the second time that the RBI Governor has addressed the media since the nationwide lockdown was imposed from March 25. Catch all the live news updates related to coronavirus pandemic in India and other parts of the world.

The Central Bank eased asset classification norm saying that for all accounts where deferment or moratorium has been applied, "there would be an asset classification standstill." "Banks will be required to maintain additional provisioning of 10% on standstill accounts," Das said.

The RBI Governor informed that 90-day NPA norm will not apply on moratorium granted on existing loans by banks. "Lenders to be safe from defaulter tag for 3 months starting March 1, 2020," Das said.

India's Growth in 2020 and 2021-2022

The Central Bank said that even after hit economically due to coronavirus crisis, India will continue to grow at 1.9 percent during current fiscal year. “India is among the handful of countries that are projected to cling on, somewhat tenuously, to the positive growth rate of 1.9 per cent. This is the highest growth rate among the G-20 economies as estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” RBI Governor said.

Das informed that India is expected to resume its pre-slowdown trajectory by growing at 7.4 percent in 2021-2022. “India is expected to post a sharp turnaround and resume its pre-Covid growth trajectory by growing at 7.4 per cent in 2021-22,” he said. He also notified that India's foreign reserves continue to be robust.

At the start of the conference, Das said that "RBI has been very proactive and has been monitoring the evolving situation very closely." He said that their "mission is to do whatever it takes to prevent the curve from steepening."

RBI Governor's address comes amidst steep fall in the rupee and the continuing dryness in other segments of the financial markets. The rupee fell 0.55 per cent to 76.86 against the US dollar on Thursday, while the equity indices have been on a see-saw in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak losing over 30 percent since January.

On March 27, the Reserve Bank of India had announced several relief measures approved by its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to counter the economic slowdown provoked by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Monetary Policy Committee had advanced its meeting and met on March 24, 26 and 27. The MPC reduced the repo rate by a record 75 bps to 4.4 percent, and reverse repo rate by 90 bps.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2020 10:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).