An RBI bonanza for the budget difficult in FY'26

The government may not receive significantly higher dividend transfer from the Reserve Bank of India in 2025-26 over previous year, shows receipts budget document.

Dividends that the government may receive from the RBI and PSU banks in FY26 is estimated at Rs 2.56 lakh crore as against estimated Rs 2.30 lakh crore for FY '25.

This effectively implies that the RBI support to budget would be lower in FY26.



In a report Standard Chartered Bank estimates that the contribution of RBI’s dividend would fall to 0.75% in FY26 from 0.9% of GDP for FY25.

However, any surprises from the central bank in the form of higher surplus transfer could be a windfall for the government, economists say.

The Central Bank itself could contribute about 80% of the Rs 2.56 lakh crore estimated in FY26 while the balance is the dividend given by the state-owned banks and financial institutions. RBI had transferred Rs 2.10 lakh crore as dividend to the government for FY24, 141% higher than previous year.


IDFC First Bank has estimated a surplus of Rs 2 lakh crore for FY 2024-25. “RBI dividend has been supported by gross dollar sales and interest income on foreign currency assets and government securities” Gaura Sengupta, chief economist at IDFC First Bank told ET.

The RBI transfers the surplus to the government sometime between May and June and hence it reflects in the government accounts in the following year.

The RBI’s major source of income is interest income earned on domestic and overseas securities and income from liquidity operations and foreign currency management.