Chandrajit Banerjee | Reviving growth: Government needs to do a fine balance in Budget on Feb. 1 Published : Jan 25, 2021, 9:07 am IST Updated : Jan 25, 2021, 9:07 am IST The fiscal situation is now under stress driven by a shortfall in revenue collections due to a fall in GDP induced by the Covid-19 crisis Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das (PTI/file) With economic activity resuming and the vaccine becoming a reality, the challenge of lives versus livelihoods is largely addressed. The next big challenge facing the government is getting growth back. The government has been fiscally prudent in its Covid interventions, with support to industry coming in the form of loan guarantees and reform measures. However, as private consumption, investments and exports remain sluggish, the burden to nurture the unexpected but buoyant recovery falls primarily on public expenditure, at least in the immediate term.