Budget 2020: Centre may seek Rs 30,000 crore interim dividend from RBI, says report

At the customary meeting with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das after the Budget, the Centre may seek an interim dividend ranging from Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000 crore from the central bank, as per an NDTV report quoting IANS.

This would be the third time in a row that the Finance Ministry would be pushing for the same. The report noted that with the interim dividend from the RBI, the Centre aims to put a check to the 3.3 percent fiscal deficit target slippage.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in last year's July Budget, had lowered the fiscal deficit target to 3.3 percent of the GDP for FY20. Also, in the current fiscal, the government received a higher dividend of Rs 95,414 crore as against the budgetary estimate of Rs 90,000 crore.

In the fiscal years of FY18 and FY19, the RBI paid  Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 28,000 crore respectively as interim dividend.

The report noted that the Rs 28,000 crore paid as interim dividend by the RBI in FY19 helped the government limit the fiscal deficit at 3.4 percent in FY19.

Usually, the RBI decides upon and disburses the dividend in August each financial year. Interim dividends, if deemed necessary by the government, can later be sought, and is released around Februrary. This is in sync with the central bank's July to June financial year cycle.

The report also noted that the government is expected to seek an interim dividend from the RBI this fiscal year due to the shortfall in revenue as a result of lower than expected tax collection and inability to meet the revenue targets from the disinvestment.