write an article in about 200 words on the impact of Covid-19 on the Indian Economy and psyche of people.
Answers
Answer:
With COVID-19 coming into the picture, the Indian economy is going through a major slowdown, which was evident over the recent quarters even before the crisis struck. In the third quarter of the current financial year, the economy grew at a six-year low rate of 4.7%. With all these problems hitting the world of work from multiple directions, companies are finding it difficult to sustain in this environment. They are forced to take tough decisions such as cutting down the salaries, giving pink slips to employees and opting for other cost-cutting measures. The outbreak has presented new roadblocks for the Indian workforce and especially for the daily wage and contractual workers.
Slowdown in demand & supply
Coronavirus has disrupted the demand and supply chain across the country and with this disruption, it can be seen that the tourism, hospitality, and aviation sectors are among the worst affected sectors that are facing the maximum impact of the current crisis. Closing of cinema theatres and declining footfall in shopping complexes has affected the retail sector by impacting the consumption of both essential and discretionary items. As the consumption of any product or services goes down, it leads to an impact on the workforce. In the current scenario, with all the retailers closing down their services, the jobs of the employees are at a huge risk.
The financial market has experienced uncertainty about the future course and repercussions of COVID-19. An estimated Rs 10 lakh crore of market cap was reportedly wiped off due to the fall of sensex in the second week of March 2020. The fall has continued till date as investors resorted to relentless selling amid rising cases of coronavirus.
The supply-side impact of shutting down of factories resulted in a delay in supply of goods from China which has affected a huge number of manufacturing sectors which source their intermediate and final product requirements from China. Some sectors like automobiles, pharmaceuticals, electronics, chemical products etc were impacted big time.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has suggested that India’s trade impact due to the COVID-19 outbreak could be around US$ 348 million. India is among the top 15 countries that have been affected most as a result of manufacturing slowdown in China that is disrupting world trade. For India, the overall trade impact is estimated to be the most for the chemicals sector at 129 million dollars, textiles and apparel at 64 million dollars, the automotive sector at 34 million dollars, electrical machinery at 12 million dollars, leather products at 13 million dollars, metals and metal products at 27 million dollars and wood products and furniture at 15 million dollars. As per UNCTAD estimates, exports across global value chains could decrease by US$ 50 billion during the year in case there is a 2% reduction in China’s exports of intermediate inputs.
According to a survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), the immediate impact of COVID-19 reveals that besides the direct impact on demand and supply of goods and services, businesses are also facing reduced cash flows due to slowing economic activity which in turn is having an impact on all payments including to those for employees, interest, loan repayments and taxes.
Explanation:
Major survey results
A significant 53 per cent of Indian businesses indicate the marked impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business operations even at early stages.
The pandemic has significantly impacted the cash flow at organizations with almost 80 percent reporting a decrease in cash flow.
The pandemic has had a major impact on the supply chains as more than 60 per cent respondents indicate that their supply chains were affected. The companies also highlighted that they are closely monitoring the situation and expect the impact of the pandemic on the supply chain to worsen further.
Organizations have brought in a renewed focus on hygiene aspects concerning the pandemic. Almost 40 per cent have put in place stringent checks on people entering their offices and disinfection. Nearly 30 per cent organizations have already put in place Work-from-Home policies for their employees.
Nearly 42 per cent of the respondents feel that it could take upto 3 months for normalcy to return.
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