In a bid to give relief to companies defaulting on loans because of the Covid-19 stress, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said no fresh insolvency will be initiated for one year under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Coronavirus-related debt will be excluded from the definition of default, she said.

The minimum threshold to initiative insolvency proceeding has been raised to Rs 1 crore from Rs 1 lakh to benefit MSMEs, she said, adding that an ordinance will be promulgated to bring this change in the IBC.

In other changes, the government also allowed companies to directly list securities in permissible foreign jurisdictions.

Private companies, which list non-convertible debentures on stock exchanges, would not to be regarded as listed companies, she added.