The Reserve Bank of India said on Monday that it will pay interim dividend of Rs 28,000 crore to the government. The decision to pay the interim dividend was taken at a post-Budget meeting of the central bank’s board of directors in New Delhi. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das chaired the meeting.
“Based on a limited audit review and after applying the extant economic capital framework, the Board decided to transfer an interim surplus of Rs 280 billion to the central government for the half-year ended December 31, 2018,” an RBI bulletin said. “This is the second successive year that the Reserve Bank will be transferring an interim surplus.”
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who attended the meeting, “broadly outlined the various reforms and policy measures taken by the government over the last four years and the effects thereof,” the RBI said. Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey and Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanian also attended the meeting.
Earlier this month, the RBI had reduced the repo rate, or the interest rate at which it lends to commercial banks, by 25 basis points to 6.25%. This was the first time in 17 months that the central bank cut the rate. Addressing a press conference after the policy meeting, Das had said the central bank was constantly and continuously monitoring liquidity in the economy.
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