Government to seek interim dividend from RBI for FY19

To plug gaps in its budget before the general election next year, government on Wednesday said it will seek an interim dividend from the Reserve Bank of India for this fiscal year as it's a matter of principle, government official privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18.

It may be noted that in the financial year 2017-18, the RBI had made a surplus transfer of Rs 50,000 crore to the government (which comprised an interim transfer of Rs 10,000 crore). It was quite higher from Rs 30,659 crore in the previous financial year 2016-17, but lower than in the previous three years.)

The government said that it's not ruling out G-Sec buybacks of Rs 40,000-50,000 crore in the current fiscal and this maybe funded entirely from the small savings kitty, which is likely to exceed FY19 target of Rs 1.30 lakh crore, said government official familiar with the matter.