Centre’s finances not rosy, says Cong on RBI’s dividend to govt

Congress questions Centre’s finances

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said that the Centre’s finances are “not as rosy” after the Reserve Bank of India approved a transfer of Rs 2.87 lakh crore as surplus to the Union Government for the financial year 2025-26, marking one of the highest dividend payouts by the central bank.

Citing a media report, Jairam Ramesh said that the RBI has cut its Contingency Risk Buffer to payout a huge dividend to the Centre. “That the Union Govt’s finances are not as rosy as is being made out to be is proved by the fact that the RBI has done it a favour and given it a big bonus. After increasing what is called the Contingency Risk Buffer maintained by it for three consecutive years, the RBI decided to lower it for the financial year 2025/26. This has resulted in a huge increase in its dividend to the Union Govt. The Centre has got a bonanza of an additional Rs 92,000 crore over and above what it would have got had the 2024/25 Contingency Reserve Buffer not been reduced,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

The RBI on Friday announced a record dividend payout to the government for FY26, higher than the Rs 2.69 lakh crore transferred in the previous year. The central bank said it decided to transfer Rs 1,09,379.64 crore towards the Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) for FY26, compared to Rs 44,861.70 crore in the previous year, keeping the CRB at 6.5 per cent of the balance sheet size.

FM expresses faith in RBI’s calculation

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed faith in the financial integrity and calculation metrics used by the central bank for its landmark dividend announcement. She stated, “Additional provision, I fully trust RBI in having made the calculation and given the dividend.” (ANI)

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