Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday tore into the Centre after the RBI approved a transfer of record Rs 1.76 lakh crore dividend and surplus reserves to the government. "PM & FM are clueless about how to solve their self created economic disaster. Stealing from RBI won’t work—it is like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary and sticking it on a gunshot wound," Gandhi tweeted.
PM & FM are clueless about how to solve their self created economic disaster.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 27, 2019
Stealing from RBI won’t work - it’s like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary & sticking it on a gunshot wound. #RBILooted https://t.co/P7vEzWvTY3
The transfer boosts Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led regime's prospect to stimulate the slowing economy without widening fiscal deficit.
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ALSO READ: RBI accepts Jalan panel report, approves Rs 1.76 lakh cr transfer to govt
The excess reserve transfer is in line with the recommendation of former RBI governor Bimal Jalan-led panel constituted to decide size of capital reserves that the central bank should hold. The government was represented by Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar in the panel which finalised its report on August 14 by consensus.
As far as the dividend is concerned, the statement said "as financial resilience was within the desired range, the entire net income of Rs 1,23,414 crore for the year 2018-19, of which an amount of Rs 28,000 crore has already been paid as interim dividend, will be transferred to the Government of India (in March 2019)".
Governor Shaktikanta Das-led RBI central board gave its nod for transferring to 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), the apex bank said in a statement.
The receipts from the RBI will give a fillip to the government's efforts to boost the economy from a five-year low. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last week announced a slew of measures to prop up growth even as the government tried to stick to the target of keeping fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of the GDP. The additional cash will now give the Centre more headroom for stimulating the economy..
