In a major boost to the government’s fiscal position, the Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday approved a record surplus transfer, or dividend, of Rs 2.69 lakh crore to the Central Government for the accounting year 2024-25.
The transferable surplus for 2024-25 has been arrived at on the basis of the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF) as approved by the Central Board in its meeting held on May 15, 2025, the RBI said.
“Based on the revised ECF, and taking into consideration the macroeconomic assessment, the Central Board decided to further increase the CRB to 7.50 percent.The Board thereafter approved the transfer of Rs 2,68,590.07 crore as surplus to the Central Government for the accounting year 2024-25,” the RBI said in a release issued after the board meeting.
The revised framework stipulates that the risk provisioning under the Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) be maintained within a range of 7.50 to 4.50 per cent of the RBI’s balance sheet. The RBI’s CRB is the country’s savings for a ‘rainy day’ (a financial stability crisis) which the central bank consciously maintained in view of its role as Lender of Last Resort (LoLR).
During accounting years 2018-19 to 2021-22, owing to the prevailing macroeconomic conditions and the onslaught of pandemic, the Board had decided to maintain the CRB at 5.50 per cent of the Reserve Bank’s Balance Sheet size to support growth and overall economic activity. The CRB was increased to 6.00 per cent for FY 2022-23 and to 6.50 per cent for FY 2023-24.
The record dividend payout by the RBI will help the government in managing the fiscal deficit. The higher surplus transfer is also likely to improve liquidity conditions in the system. As per some estimates, the banking liquidity is likely to increase to nearly Rs 6 lakh crore.
