US Treasuries behind RBI's Rs 2.1 trillion bumper surplus to Centre

Dollar sale also helped; Such high surplus likely to be one-off

A combination of factors, including heavy investments in US Treasury bonds and dollar sales at a healthy profit, facilitated the Indian central bank in transferring a record surplus of Rs 2.11 trillion to the government for 2023–24 (FY24).

The RBI’s dollar purchases increased in FY24, supported by robust capital inflows endorsing the economy’s health.

Economists noted that these dollars were invested in US Treasury securities, with yields rising due to monetary policy tightening — reflecting the higher-for-longer stance of the US Federal Reserve — resulting in substantial interest income for the RBI from foreign assets.

In FY24, the RBI’s foreign