Govt wants Rs 100 bn interim dividend from RBI for fiscal deficit target

Reserve Bank had paid the same amount last financial year

The government is asking the Reserve Bank of India for at least Rs100 billion in interim dividend for 2018-19 as it looks to meet a tough fiscal deficit target in the face of possible goods and services tax (GST) shortfall and additional expenditure commitments. 

Incidentally, Rs 100 billion is the amount that the central bank had transferred as interim dividend for the government’s 2017-18 fiscal year as well. “The government is seeking from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) roughly the same amount in interim dividend as it paid in the last fiscal,” said a senior government source. Another official