Reserve Bank board approves Rs 30,307 cr dividend payment to govt for FY22

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the payment of Rs 30,307 crore dividend to the government financial year 2021-22, it said the on Friday.

The dividend payment comes after the economy comes under stress from the war in Ukraine and fears for the world economy.

The board approved the transfer of Rs 30,307 crore as surplus to the central government for the accounting year 2021-22 while deciding to maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50 per cent, RBI said in a statement. The decision on the dividend payment was made in the 596th meeting of the Central Board of Directors of RBI, headed by Governor Shaktikanta Das, held on Friday.

RBI, last year in May, declared a dividend of Rs 99,122 crore for the nine-month period (July 2020 to March 2021). The dividend was paid for that period as RBI aligned its financial year with the government's financial year.

Earlier, RBI used to follow July-June period earlier as against government's April-March financial year. During its meeting, the board reviewed the current economic situation, global and domestic challenges and the impact of recent geopolitical developments, PTI reported.

The board also discussed the working of RBI during the year April 2021 – March 2022 and approved the annual report and accounts for the accounting year 2021-22, the statement said. 

The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), after a meeting in February, estimated that the GDP growth rate for Financial Year 2022-23 would be at 7.2 per cent.

Das had then said FY23 GDP growth forecast lowered to 7.2 per cent from 7.8 per cent.

(With inputs from PTI)