Speaking to private news channel, Rajan said that he would readily agree if he’s asked to provide assistance in dealing with the economic stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
He said that the world is surely in a deep recession and a rebound depends on measures that will be taken to prevent the recurrence of the pandemic.
In a blog he wrote recently, Rajan focused on steps that are needed to get India’s economy back on track after the lockdown is lifted. Among the steps he listed were restarting the economic activity with adequate precautions in low-infection zones even as he said that putting the country under a prolonged lockdown will be hard. He also called for direct benefit transfers for the poor and help to small and medium enterprises.
Rajan, who has been vocal about dealing with the massive health crisis, said that India has to focus on containing the spread of the virus and think about stimulus measures later.
“People want to have a sense that there is a limit to the spread of this virus perhaps because of containment measures or because there is hope that some kind of viral solution can be found,” Rajan had told Bloomberg.
Rajan, who is currently teaching in the US, said that more than anything companies and individuals have to be convinced that the virus is under control.
Rajan has been chosen as one of the advisors to the external advisory group assisting the IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva on matters of policy especially the response to economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
