(FE)
The central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may consider the government’s request for an interim dividend in the customary post-Budget meeting with the finance minister, scheduled for February 9. The Budget has factored in a Rs 68,000-crore dividend from the RBI in the revised estimate for the current fiscal, economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg told Rson Saturday.
Since the government has already received Rs40,000 crore from the RBI this fiscal, the interim dividend is expected to be around Rs 28,000 crore. Interim finance minister Piyush Goyal will address the RBI board meeting, which will be held two days after the next monetary policy review. In the customary post-budget meeting, the finance minister of the day addresses the RBI board and dwells on key issues highlighted in the Budget.
The meeting takes place at a time when the government has missed its fiscal deficit targets for this year and the next by 10 basis points and 30 basis points, respectively, due to the introduction of the PM-Kisan scheme that is aimed at alleviating farm distress. The government’s gross market borrowing target is raised to Rs7.1 lakh crore for the next fiscal.
