Congress questions Centre’s finances after record RBI dividend

The Congress claimed the Centre’s finances are weaker than projected after the Reserve Bank of India announced a record Rs 2.87 lakh crore dividend to the government. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged the payout was boosted through adjustments to the contingency risk buffer

New Delhi: With the Reserve Bank announcing a record dividend of Rs 2.87 lakh crore to the government, the Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Centre’s finances are not as rosy as is being made out to be is proved by the fact that the RBI has “done it a favour” and given it a big bonus.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a record dividend of Rs 2.87 lakh crore to the government for the year ended March 2026, providing a financial boost for the exchequer amid rising import bills and supply chain disruptions due to the West Asia conflict. The dividend is 6.7 per cent higher than Rs 2.69 lakh crore for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

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In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “That the Union government’s finances are not as rosy as is being made out to be is proved by the fact that the RBI has done it a favour and given it a big bonus.”

“After increasing what is called the Contingency Risk Buffer maintained by it for three consecutive years, the RBI decided to lower it for the financial year 2025/26. This has resulted in a huge increase in its dividend to the Union government,” he said.

The Centre has got a bonanza of an additional Rs 92,000 crore over and above what it would have got had the 2024/25 Contingency Reserve Buffer not been reduced, Ramesh said.

In a statement, the RBI has said its net income, before risk provision and transfer to statutory funds, aggregated Rs 3.96 lakh crore in FY26 as against Rs 3.13 lakh crore in FY25.

“The balance sheet of the Bank expanded by 20.61 per cent to Rs 91,97,121.08 crore as on March 31, 2026,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

The RBI’s Central Board of Directors, at its meeting, reviewed the global and domestic economic scenario, including risks to the outlook, and also approved the dividend.

According to the statement, the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF) provides flexibility to maintain the Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) between the range of 4.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent of the size of the balance sheet.

“Taking into consideration the current macroeconomic factors, financial performance of the Bank and maintenance of appropriate risk buffers, the Central Board decided to transfer Rs 1,09,379.64 crore towards the CRB for FY 2025-26 as against Rs 44,861.70 crore in the previous year,” it said.