At a time when there seems to be limited conversations regarding the current state of the Indian economy across media, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday in its latest assessment of the Indian economy has cut its economic growth projection by 300 points to 9.5 % for the current 2021-22 FY. It can be recalled that in April the IMF made an estimate that growth will be 12.5 %. In its latest edition of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, the IMF has reasoned that the 2nd wave of the Covid pandemic particularly during March-May has played a major role in nullifying the prospect of a turnaround that was perceptible during January and February. Meanwhile, Thursday turned out to be depressing for the country with a sudden surge of cases, triggering the fear that the 3rd wave might just be waiting to lash. It has already been said by the experts several times recently that the 3rd wave is inevitable and under such circumstances, it’s not hard to perceive how difficult the coming days are going to be for the Indian economy.
However, the aspect of the WEO report that makes it so relevant for India pertains to the analysis made on the Covid vaccination-economic recovery link, wherein it has been said that the two are directly proportional. The report points out that countries which have been able to upscale their vaccination coverage have the better chances of making economic recoveries and for those lagging behind, the impact of Covid will be severe and prolonged. Countries like the United Kingdom and Canada, as per the prediction which takes vaccination coverage as a factor for the first time, will see a faster return to economic normalcy and for India it will be exactly opposite. Besides the report, the IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath in interviews given to various news channels of the Indian media has clearly said that countries that will manage to vaccinate faster will have more concrete chances of getting out of the economic blues. In terms of full vaccination, the IMF CE has said that as of now the advanced countries have inoculated 40% of their population, whereas in the developing ones, it’s around 11%. It will perhaps need a Pegasus-like maneuver to unearth India’s exact Covid percentage coverage in terms of both shots. Union Health Ministry’s data on Thursday show that as of now cumulative Covid vaccination coverage has surpassed 45.55 crore including around 47 lakh doses administered on the day and as usual, there is no mention of the coverage percentage.
The economy is in ruins and the current pace of vaccination will only lead to an irreparable damage. When will the realisation dawn? 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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