Thiruvananthapuram, April 09:  In an effort to tide over the economic situation rising out of the Coronavirus outbreak, the Kerala Government has requested the Central Government to grant permission to State Governments to issue special Pandemic Relief Bonds.

Briefing the media today, Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan disclosed that Kerala has informed Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi about the economic crisis in the State following the spread of Covid-19. “All States are in financial distress as revenues have stopped and the public healthcare expenditure has increased manifold to contain the outbreak. In this difficult scenario, we will have to borrow from the open market to continue the work and also to ensure that there is no break in our efforts due to lack of funds. Therefore, permission may be granted to State Governments to issue special Pandemic Relief Bonds. We have also requested the Prime Minister to increase our borrowing limit to 5%. Similarly, loans from external agencies for epidemic control measures and reconstruction activities may be exempted from the State’s borrowing limit.” The government is expecting a favourable response in this regard.