Will Modi be able to strengthen the economy by taking money from RBI?

 27 Aug 2019 ( News Bureau )

The Reserve Bank of India has decided to pay $ 24.8 billion or about 1.76 lakh crore rupees as dividend and surplus capital to the Modi government.

It is being claimed that this will help the Modi government in curing the critical condition of public financial institutions. But the opposition Congress party is pointing fingers at the Modi government in this matter.

At a press conference on Tuesday, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said, "The RBI board, together with the recommendation of the Jalan Committee, transferred Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the Government of India. All this was a plus." The risk buffer ie CRB has been transferred to RBI. In this, all the earnings of RBI's 2018 and 2019 were given to the government.

Anand Sharma further said, "A few days ago the committee head Vimal Jalan said that this money will be given within four-five years. That money was given in one place instead of four-five years. It was for that situation when there is an economic crisis on the country. This confirms the deep crisis on India's economy. The money that is being given to the government was for emergency. "

But at the same time, concern is also being raised about the autonomy of the Reserve Bank of India. Last year, the then RBI Governor Urjit Patel and the Modi government had disagreed at the policy level and Patel resigned before his term ended.

Vivek Dahejia, Professor of Economics at Carlton University, Canada, told the Financial Times on the RBI's decision, "The central bank is losing its executive autonomy and becoming a means to fulfill the greed of the government." The activities of RBI are monitored.

"This will weaken the credibility of the Reserve Bank," he said. Investors who are looking towards India will say that RBI is completely under government control. I don't think it's good for the economy. ''

In a statement issued on Monday, the RBI said that in the last financial year, total income of $ 17.3 billion and surplus amount of $ 7.4 billion i.e. Rs 1.76 lakh crore is going to be handed over to the government. The Reserve Bank said that the transfer is under the New Economic Capital Framework which has recently been accepted.

A committee was formed under the chairmanship of former RBI Governor Vimal Jalan and the same committee recommended the New Economic Framework. The recommendations of this committee have been accepted by RBI.

RBI has agreed that it will give the entire income of the last financial year to the government. A dispute arose with the Reserve Bank in October last year over the use of safe money.

The then Deputy Governor of RBI, Viral Acharya, warned the government that if the government increased its intervention at the policy level in the RBI, it would have very bad consequences. Viral Acharya had said that the government wants to get the money secured with RBI.

Two months later, Urjit Patel resigned from RBI. After this, the Modi government made Shaktikanta Das the governor.

Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, who deeply understood the ups and downs in the economy from the BBC when Shaktikanta Das was made governor, said, "The day Shaktikanta Das became RBI governor, it was clear that whatever the government would like the RBI to do. Have to do it.

"Shaktikanta Das has been an IAS officer and worked as a spokesperson in the Ministry of Finance," says Thakurta. When demonetisation took place, Das supported. Shaktikanta Das was studying history at St. Stephen's College, Delhi. Das has worked as a government official. It is very important to have money with the Reserve Bank because if there is anything in the foreign market, the rupee will be weak. Government figures are already questionable. This matter has also been raised by the former Economic Advisor of the Modi government.

The government is under pressure due to the weakness in the Indian economy. The Indian currency rupee has crossed 72 against the US dollar. Economic growth rate has not picked up pace in the fourth consecutive quarter. But the question still remains whether Modi will be able to strengthen the economy by taking money from RBI. The government has failed to achieve the target of tax collection.

The RBI pays dividends to the government every year on the basis of its investment income and printing of notes. For the last few years, the finance ministry was seeking a larger payment from the RBI.

The Reserve Bank says that it has more money than needed, which is why the government has given such a huge amount. It is said that there was a dispute between former RBI Governor Urjit Patel and the government about this.

The Vimal Jalan committee had recommended that RBI should have 5.5 to 6.5 percent of its balance sheet. Earlier this amount was 6.8 percent. The government aims to reduce the 2020 budget deficit to 3.3% of GDP.

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said last week that the government would soon inject 700 billion rupees into government banks. India's banking sector is going through a period of crisis.

Viral Acharya came into the limelight as the deputy governor of RBI on October 26, 2018, when he heard the Modi government scandalously accusing the RBI of compromising autonomy. His speech took place exactly three days after the Reserve Bank board meeting.

In his nearly one-and-a-half-hour speech, he said that governments that do not respect the autonomy of their central banks have to face the brunt of financial markets sooner rather than later.

That address by Acharya was seen as a ruckus in the relationship between the RBI and the Modi government.

Indeed, shortly before this speech there were differences of opinion between the government and the Reserve Bank on several issues. For example, the government wanted a reduction in the interest rates, and was advocating to give more cash to the non-banking finance companies, ie NBFC, and also wanted the RBI to give some part of its reserves to the government.

 

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