Letter to BS: RBI board meeting on Feb 18 to approve interim dividend

The present move to arrive at the amount of interim dividend based on the audited accounts of the RBI for the half year ending December 31, 2018, should give the RBI some relief

This refers to Somesh Jha’s report “RBI to conduct its first half-yearly audit” (February 6). Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had succumbed to the Centre’s pressure to pay a ‘token interim dividend’ of Rs 10, 000 crore before the close of FY 18, overlooking the provisions of RBI Act, 1934. Section 47 of the Act says that “after making provision for bad and doubtful debts, depreciation in assets, contributions to staff and superannuation funds and for all other matters for which provision is to be made by, or under this Act, or which are usually provided for