(ET)
The surplus that the Reserve Bank of India transferred to the government in the last fiscal year fell sharply mainly due to a jump in expenditure, which was led by interest payments to banks on their excess funds parked with it, the bank’s annual report showed.
While income for 2021-22 increased by 20%, expenditure rose by 280%, which resulted in the overall surplus transferred to the government decreasing 69% to Rs 30,307.45 crore from Rs 99,122 crore in 2020-21. Apart from the higher operational expenditure, the RBI also had to pay interest on the excess funds kept by banks with it through the reverse repo window. This interest outgo nearly doubled to Rs 35,601 crore at the end of March 2022 from Rs 17,958 crore a year ago.
