The central government has received ₹30659 crores as dividend from reserve bank of India. The amount received by the government is less than half of what it had received last year. In the last financial year, the government had received ₹65876 crore from RBI as a dividend.
Reserve Bank of India operates its account considering July to June as the financial year. On Thursday, the board members met to clear the accounts and an official announcement of the discussions and other changes might take place next week. The annual report of RBI will also be launched in the coming days.
While announcing the dividend paid to the government, RBI did not disclose any reason for the reduction in amount. However, according to experts, the change in figures is because of the large costs incurred by RBI post demonetization. The activities post demonetization included printing of new currency notes and recollecting the old ones.
The dividend paid is lowest since 2011-12. In the year 2011-12, the government had received ₹16010 crores as the dividend. The following year, RBI had transferred ₹33010 crores. YH Malegam Committee had suggested RBI transfer the entire surplus to the government. Since then, the government for ₹52679 crores in 2013-14 and ₹65896 crores in 2014-15
The announcement by RBI is set to create disturbance among high ranks of the government. The government had expected the central bank at pay ₹58000 crores in the dividend in the ongoing year with the total dividend paid by all banks amounting to ₹74901 crores.
Speaking to the parliamentary board in July, RBI chief Urjit Patel had stated that the bank has not finished counting the old notes yet. He had also added that the collected notes will remain a liability of RBI and can not be passed to the government as the dividend. This statement by him has given some hopes for revision in the amount received by the government and there might be additional dividend announced in the later period.