India’s economy is likely to have expanded at its slowest pace in at least eight years in the January-March quarter, partly as a result of the coronavirus clampdown.

A Reuters Poll revealed that a countrywide lockdown implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th March halted economic activity completely.

A senior India economist at Capital Economics in Singapore, said a prolonged period of restrictions, along with limited financial support means that India’s economy will contract this year for the first time in over four decades.

Chief Asia economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, Freya Beamish said the government’s latest stimulus package will serve only to cushion the blow over the long run, rather than help fill the shortfall in demand in the near term.