
   
 
 
Update on Government stimulus – Part I 
 
 
Government unlikely to step up spending which is need of the hour 
While the stimulus of  ` 20 lakh cr. by the Government may address some of the 
issues faced by MSMEs, NBFCs and the power sector we believe that the need of 
the  hour  was  for  the  Government  to  increase  its  spending  significantly  and  put 
money  into  the  hands  of  the  consumers which  would  then  have  been  spent  and 
helped kick start the economy. However given fiscal constraints the Government is 
not in a position to do significantly large cash spending. 
Given  that  the  Government  lacks  fiscal  space  to  provide  direct  stimulus  to  the 
economy in the form of cash spending we believe that trying to extend credit to the 
agriculture, MSME and power sector  is the next best thing  that could be done  by 
the Government as it would ensure that the credit is available to the critical part of 
the economy. 
While the ` 20 lakh cr. stimulus package may seem large at ~10% of GDP, it is 
still  smaller  in  size  as  compared  to  the  stimulus  packages  announced  by  other 
countries like the US. The US Government has so far announced fiscal package of 
~USD 2.7 trillion (13% of GDP) which includes cash transfers while the US Fed has 
provided  monetary  stimulus  of  ~USD  2.5tn  (11.5%  of  GDP)  so  far.  Both the  US 
Government and the Fed have indicated that they are going to do more. 
The Government  has also highlighted that it would  focus on  land and  labor and 
there are expectations that there could be some announcement by the Government 
on land and labor reforms in the next tranche. While such structural changes will 
be  positive  for  the  economy  in  the  longer  run  it  would  still not  address  the  near 
term issue of supporting demand which has collapsed as the economy has virtually 
come to a standstill due to the lockdown. 
View and outlook  
The  package  announced  by  the  Government  may  not  be  able  to  stimulate  the 
economy  to  the  extent  required  and  hence  the  markets  disappointment  by  the 
measures announced so far. While proactive measures by the Indian Government 
to shut the economy early has so far prevented a widespread Covid - 19 epidemic 
there has been a recent acceleration in new cases which is coinciding with gradual 
relaxation  to  the  lockdown.  Therefore  there  is  a  risk  that  there  could  be  an 
outbreak in the future which is a cause for worry.  
Therefore  post  the announcements so far  we  do  not  see  any  material  change  to 
our  investment  strategy  and  continue  to  prefer  businesses  which  are  either 
engaged  in  essential  activities  or  could  benefit  from  increased  digitization.  We 
maintain  our  preference  for  sectors  like  agrochemicals,  chemicals,  FMCG, 
pharma, telecom and IT which have better revenue visibility. We also maintain our 
strategy  of  avoiding  sectors  which  are  vulnerable  to  the  slowdown  like  aviation, 
automobiles, hospitality, banks & NBFCs. 
   
 
Government may not be able to step 
up spending due to fiscal constraints 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
India’s  Package  at  10%  of  GDP  is 
inadequate and lacks cash spending 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We  continue  with  our  strategy  of 
focusing business with better revenue 
visibility