2020 – 21 as a whole, the merchandise trade deficit shrank to us $ 98. 6 billion from us $ 161 billion a year ago. preliminary data released by the ministry of commerce & industry indicate that india ’ s merchandise exports and imports continue to witness broad - based robust growth performance in april 2021. the current account balance, which had been recording surpluses from january 2020 through september 2020, flipped and turned into a slender deficit of 0. 2 per cent of gdp in q3 : 2020 – 21. foreign exchange reserves were at us $ 588 billion on april 30, 2021. this gives us the confidence to deal with global spillovers. 10. domestic financial conditions remain easy on abundant and surplus system liquidity. the average daily net liquidity absorption under the liquidity adjustment facility ( laf ) was at ₹5. 8 lakh crore in april 2021. the first auction under g - sap 1. 0 conducted on april 15, 2021 for a notified amount of ₹25, 000 crore elicited an enthusiastic response as reflected in the bid - cover ratio of 4. 1. g - sap has engendered a softening bias in g - sec yields which has continued since then. 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches given this positive response from the market, it has been decided that the second purchase of government securities for an aggregate amount of ₹35, 000 crore under g - sap 1. 0 will be conducted on may 20, 2021. with system liquidity assured, the rbi is now focusing on increasingly channelising its liquidity operations to support growth impulses, especially at the grassroot level. additional measures 11. in the fight against the second wave, alleviating any constraint from the financing side for all stake holders – government, hospitals and dispensaries, pharmacies, vaccine / medicine manufacturers / importers, medical oxygen manufacturers / suppliers, private operators engaged in the critical healthcare supply chain, and above all the common man who may be facing sudden spike in health expenditure – requires a comprehensive targeted policy response. small businesses and financial entities at the grassroot level are bearing the biggest brunt of the second wave of infections. against this backdrop and based on our continuing assessment of the macroeconomic situation and financial market conditions, we propose to take further measures, as enumerated below. term liquidity facility of ₹50, 000 crore to ease access to emergency health services 12. to boost provision of immediate liquidity for ramping up

residual tenor up to a total of 2 years. other conditions will remain the same. ( c ) in respect of small businesses and msmes restructured earlier, lending institutions are also being permitted as a one - time measure, to review the working capital sanctioned limits, based on a reassessment of the working capital cycle, margins, etc. rationalisation of compliance to kyc requirements 18. taking forward the initiatives of the reserve bank for enhancing customer convenience, it has been decided to rationalise certain components of the extant kyc norms. these include ( a ) extending the scope of video kyc known as v - cip ( video - based customer identification process ) for new categories of customers such as proprietorship firms, authorised signatories and beneficial owners of legal entities and for periodic updation of kyc ; ( b ) conversion of limited kyc accounts opened on the basis of aadhaar e - kyc authentication in non - face - to - face mode to fully kyc - compliant accounts ; ( c ) enabling the use of kyc identifier of centralised kyc registry ( ckycr ) for v - cip and submission of electronic documents ( including identity documents issued through digilocker ) as identify proof ; ( d ) introduction of more customerfriendly options, including the use of digital channels for the purpose of periodic updation of kyc details of customers. 19. further, keeping in view the covid related restrictions in various parts of the country, regulated entities are being advised that for the customer accounts where periodic kyc updating is due / pending, no punitive restriction on operations of customer account ( s ) shall be imposed till december 31, 2021 unless warranted due to any other reason or under instructions of any regulator / enforcement agency / court of law, etc. account holders are requested to update 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches their kyc during this period. utilisation of floating provisions and countercyclical provisioning buffer 20. in order to mitigate the pandemic related stress on banks and as a measure to enable capital conservation, banks are being allowed to utilise 100 per cent of floating provisions / countercyclical provisioning buffer held by them as on december 31, 2020 for making specific provisions for non - performing assets with prior approval of their boards. such utilisation is permitted with immediate effect and up to march 31, 2022. relaxation in overdraft ( od )