Liquidity lifeline: On Nirmala’s MSME package

From a total viewpoint, the very first tranche of statements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on Wednesday is excellent indeed. There are, and will be, lots of concerns in the details however taken as an entire, the procedures announced will go a long way in raising the spirits of the 2 key and troubled sectors of MSMEs and non-banking finance companies. While for the former it is an existential crisis, for the latter it is one of liquidity. The enormous 3-lakh crore collateral-free assistance handed out to MSMEs will help them crank up their operations. Ms. Sitharaman has done well in extending a sovereign credit assurance for the total quantity as banks may otherwise have actually been reluc