RBI to Pay Massive Dividend of Rs 2.11 Lakh Crore to Govt

RBI has announced a massive and historic dividend payout of Rs 2.11 lakh crore to central government for 2023-24. It's a never before happened event in finance. Let's see in detail.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a historic dividend payout of Rs 2.11 lakh crore to Government of India for FY 2023-24. The dividend amount is beyond expectation of RBI itself. The dividend payout is two times the expectation of RBI and it has grown 141% as compared to last year. It is very fascinating to see that most country’s central banks struggling to get back on track yet RBI has given profit, dividend and a strong forex reserves. 

RBI

What is Meant by RBI's Dividend Payout to Government?

Every year the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) transfers the profit or surplus money to the Government of India in the form of dividend. But this is a special year as the RBI approves to pay Rs 2.11 lakh crore of dividend for the central government, highest ever in the history of RBI. This is more than doubled the amount that it had paid last year. 

RBI has surpassed everyone’s expectations including itself about the amount of dividend payout. Last year, it had paid Rs 1.79 lakh crore to central government but this year it has surged up by 141% which led to a huge amount of RS 2.11 lakh crore.

How did RBI Approve Such a Huge Dividend Payout?

Citi, a foreign stockbroker, reports that the government has additional budgetary flexibility of 0.3% of GDP. When submitting the final budget, it would have to choose between cutting the fiscal deficit and raising spending.

The gap between the government’s revenue and expenditures is known as a fiscal deficit.

Zee Business Research claims that earnings from forex trading and the RBI’s increased foreign exchange reserves, which now total $644.15 billion, are some of the factors contributing to the dividend hike. In addition, the RBI benefited from rising interest rates on both domestic and foreign securities, which strengthened the RBI’s balance sheet as gold prices increased. In this case, interest income from overseas securities and foreign exchange transactions accounted for 60–70% of the earnings.

What Will be the Impact of This Decision by RBI?

RBI

It is anticipated that this decision will significantly enhance the Center’s handling of the fiscal deficit.  Comparing this allocation to the previous high of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2018–19, it was much higher. Governor Shaktikanta Das chaired the 608th meeting of the RBI’s Central Board of Directors, where the decision was reached.

Zee Business analysis suggests that the RBI’s substantial payout may reduce the amount of money the government needs to borrow from the market. It is projected that the fiscal deficit will decrease by 30 to 40 basis points (bps).

Citi claims that if the RBI not expanded its contingency buffer—a special provision fund held by the central bank primarily to be utilized during any unexpected and unforeseen contingencies—it would have been able to transfer Rs 35,000 crore more in dividends.

According to Nomura, the fiscal jackpot makes it seem reasonable for the government to reduce borrowing and its budget deficit while keeping some of the windfall on hand to handle any emergencies.

Conclusion

It gives a lot of pleasure to see while most central banks in the world are failing to manage inflation, their currency value, etc; the RBI has put it hands up and doing a tremendous job for the nation. The RBI has managed to control the inflation so far and projected India’s inflation rate for 2-24-25 at 4.5% which very low as compared to other major economy. 

The Governor of RBI, Shaktikanta Das was honoured with the title of ‘Governor of the Year 2023’ by the London-based financial journal Central Banking.

Read more about PM Modi’s Strong Stock Market Prediction After June 4 

Read more about How Growth Rate of  India will Surpass China in Next 10 Years?

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