Government may seek Rs 30,000 cr interim dividend from RBI

The government may seek an interim dividend of about Rs 30,000 crore from the RBI towards the end of the financial year to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP for 2019-20, sources said.

Government finances have come under pressure due to moderation in revenue collection and a slew of measures taken to lift growth from a six-year low of 5% in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

"If required, the government may request the Reserve Bank of India for interim dividend of Rs 25,00030,000 crore during the current fiscal," an official said.

The assessment in this regard would be made in early January, the official added.

Apart from the RBI dividend, there are other means of bridging any shortfall, including mop up from disinvestment and higher utilisation of National Small Saving Fund (NSSF), sources added.

In the past, the government has taken the route of seeking interim dividend from the RBI to balance its account. Last fiscal, the RBI paid Rs 28,000 crore as interim dividend.

During 2017-18, the government received Rs 10,000 crore as interim dividend from the central bank.

Last month, Governor Shaktikanta Das-led RBI central board gave its nod for transferring to the the government a sum of Rs 1,76,051 crore, comprising Rs 1,23,414 crore of surplus for the year 2018-19 and Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions identified as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF).