Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India will pay a dividend of Rs 75,124 crore to the central government. The decision was taken today at a board meeting chaired by Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikant Das. The Reserve Bank will provide the funds to the government for dividends for the 2019-20 fiscal. The government had announced in its budget that it would receive a dividend of Rs 70,000 crore fromthe Reserve Bank. Last year, the Reserve Bank handed over Rs 14,000 crore to the central government. Of course, so much money was given to the government that year because of the implementation of the economic capital framework. In the 2017-18 financial year, it was the first to pay Rs 1,23,718 crore to the government. But a few days later, on the recommendation of the Bimal Jalan Committee, the government had to pay another Rs 52,836 crore. The economic capital framework recommended by the committee was implemented last year with the approval of the Reserve Bank Board. According to the framework, the Reserve Bank can have 5.5-7.5 per cent of the balance sheet of the Reserve Bank of India to deal with emergencies. The Reserve Bank Board today decided to keep that rate at 5.5 per cent. Controversy has erupted in the past over what percentage of the Reserve Bank’s balance sheet will be in the emergency fund. That is why there was a disagreement between Urjit Patel, the former governor of the Reserve Bank, and the government.
