Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that the governments must borrow to meet their deficits and not resort to imposing new or higher taxes amid the coronavirus crisis. Chidambaram said imposing higher taxes should not be done at a time when the economic activity in the country has “ground to a halt”. He said new or higher taxes will impoverish families further. Governments must borrow to meet their deficits, not impose higher tax burdens when economic activity has ground to a halt. He said the imposition of new or higher taxes makes sense only when the economy is booming.