NEW DELHI : Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi today made lacerating comments against the Modi government after the Reserve Bank of India approved a record Rs. 1.76 lakh crore payout to it, a move that he alleged was the same as “stealing from the RBI”.

“PM & FM are clueless about how to solve their self created economic disaster. Stealing from RBI won’t work – it’s like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary & sticking it on a gunshot wound,” Mr Gandhi tweeted.
The record transfer, including a surplus of Rs. 1.23 lakh crore for 2018-19, will boost the government’s finances at a time it strives to tackle a nearly five-year low economic growth with lakhs of estimated job cuts across sectors, and defend its ambitious target of containing fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of the GDP. Economists say the payout will likely help the government meet its tax revenue shortfall and fund higher spending.
The transfer of surplus and excess dividend is in line with the recommendations of the Bimal Jalan Committee, which was tasked to review the Economic Capital Framework of the RBI.
“Rs. 1.76 lakh cr given to the govt by RBI is almost the exact same amount missing from Budget 2019 announcement. Where was that money spent? Why was it missing from the Budget? Looting the RBI like this only devastates our economy further & reduces credit rating of the bank,” the Congress party tweeted.During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule in 2009 or 10 years ago, the RBI transferred Rs. 25,000 crore to the centre.
Governor Shaktikanta Das, who chaired the RBI’s 578th board meeting on Monday, had earlier said that it is the government’s prerogative to decide on the usage of the surplus and dividend payout.
In comparison, the amount of transfer this year is more than double the Rs. 68,000 crore that the RBI provided to the Modi government last year. It exceeds the centre’s budget estimate of Rs. 90,000 crore as dividend from the RBI this year.The centre last week said it will infuse Rs. 70,000 crore to public sector banks to boost economic growth from a five-year low. Analysts say this amount may come from the RBI payout.
In October last year, there was much debate among the opposition parties, economists and the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over reports that the centre was considering to use a never-used legal provision in trying to resolve disagreements with the RBI.
One of the provisions in Section 7 of the Reserve Bank of India Act allows a state-backed board of directors to exercise all powers of the central bank.(With Agency Inputs ).