RBI to transfer Rs50,000 cr surplus to govt
09 Aug 2018
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will transfer a surplus of Rs50,000 crore as dividend to government for the financial year 2017-18, which would help the centre stick to its fiscal targets.
The current dividend payout is about 63 per cent higher than that of the previous year (2016-17) and id in line with Budget estimates.
RBI, which follows a July-June financial year, had made a dividend payout of Rs30,659 crore for the fiscal ended June 2017.
“The Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India, at its meeting held on August 8, 2018, approved the transfer of surplus amounting to Rs500 billion for the year ended June 30, 2018 to the Government of India,” RBI stated in a brief note.
RBI had in March, paid an interim dividend of Rs10,000 crore at the insistence of the government to support fiscal position.
As per the Budget estimate, the government was to collect Rs54,817.25 crore as dividend or surplus from Reserve Bank of India, nationalised banks and financial institutions.
While the government realised Rs51,623.24 crore under this head in the previous fiscal, RBI’s contribution was lower at Rs30,659 crore, which was less than half of the Rs65,876 crore it paid in the previous year.
This was mainly on account of the expenses incurred in the demonetisation and post-demonetisation printing of new notes.
Under the RBI Act, the central bank is required to transfer its surplus, after making provisions for bad and doubtful debts, asset depreciation and contribution to staff and superannuation fund etc, to the government.
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