THE Reserve Bank on Friday decided to transfer Rs 99,122 crore as surplus to the exchequer, a move that will help the Government to channelise more resources to combat the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The decision to transfer the surplus amount for the accounting period of nine months ended March 31, 2021 was taken at a meeting of the central board of the RBI, held through video conferencing, under the chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das. The surplus is commonly called ‘dividend’. The accounting year of RBI is truncated as it has aligned its July-June accounting year with the Government’s April-March fiscal year.

 

The RBI has followed a July-June financial year since 1940, when it moved away from a January-December financial year. The RBI also decided to maintain a Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50 per cent in line with recommendations of the Bimal Jalan Committee report. The panel had prescribed a Contingency Risk Buffer range of 6.5 pc to 5.5 pc for the RBI.

 

The RBI Board also reviewed the current economic situation, global and domestic challenges and recent policy measures taken to mitigate adverse impact of COVID-19 on the economy.