RBI balance sheet expands 11% to

Increase on assets side in book is due to rise in foreign investments, gold, loans and advances

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₹70.47 lakh crore in FY24 THE balance-sheet of the Reserve Bank has grown 11.08% to 70.47 trillion (₹70.47 lakh cr) in FY24, leading to a record ₹2.1 trillion in dividend payout out or surplus transfer to the government for the year, shows the annual report.

In actual terms, the increase in the size of the balance sheet is of 70.03 trillion, up from ₹63.45 trillion for the year ending March 2023. Its net income stood at 2.11 trillion at endMarch 2024 after making a provision of 42,819.91 crore, down from 1,30,875.75 crore in the last fiscal. The amount made towards provisioning is transferred to the national contingency fund. Net income in FY23 was only 87,420 crore. Like in FY23, no provision was made towards asset development fund, the central bank said.

The balance-sheet reflects activities carried out in pursuance of the various functions of the RBI including issuance of currency as well as monetary policy and reserve management objectives.

Last week, the RBI had approved the highest-ever dividend payout of 2.1 trillion to the government for FY24. The dividend or surplus transfer in the central banking parlance was 87,416 crore for the FY23, which in the fiscal before was higher at 1.76 trillion.

As per the annual report for FY24, the increase on assets side in the balance sheet is due to the rise in foreign investments, gold, and loans and advances by 13.90%, 18.26% and 30.05%, respectively during the year under review.