RBI balance-sheet in FY19 up 13.4% to Rs 41 lakh cr

The balance sheet of RBI swelled by 13.42% from Rs 36.17 lakh crore to touch Rs 41 lakh crore during the 2018-19 due to domestic and foreign investments, according to the annual report of the central bank relased on Thursday.

There was an increase in the size of the bank's balance sheet during 2018-19 (July-June). The RBI follows July-June fiscal period.

The balance sheet increased by Rs 4,853.11 billion, -- 13.42 per cent from Rs 36,175.94 billion as on June 30, 2018 to Rs 41,029.05 billion as on June 30, 2019. The increase on the asset side was due to increase in domestic and foreign investments by 57.19 per cent and 5.70 per cent, respectively and increase in gold by 16.30 per cent, the report said.

On the liability side, the increase was due to increase in Notes issued, other Liabilities and Provisions, and Deposits by 13.43 per cent, 11.10 per cent and 17.21 per cent, respectively.

Domestic assets constituted 28.03 per cent while the foreign currency assets and gold (including gold held in India) constituted 71.97 per cent of total assets as on June 30, 2019 as against 23.18 per cent and 76.82 per cent, respectively as on June 30, 2018.

The bank, RBI said, had developed the Economic Capital Framework (ECF) between 2014-15 and 2015-16 as an objective, rule-based, transparent methodology for determining the appropriate level of risk provisions to be made under the provisions of Section 47 of the RBI Act, 1934.

The Reserve Bank, in consultation with the Government of India, had set up an expert committee to review the extant ECF of the Reserve Bank under the Chairmanship of Bimal Jalan. The committee has since submitted its report to the Governor of the Reserve Bank. 

The Central Board in its meeting held on August 26, 2019, after deliberating on the report, accepted all the recommendations of the committee and finalised the Reserve Bank's accounts for 2018-19 using the revised framework to determine risk provisioning and surplus transfer.

The bank said its resilience was strong enough to write back excess risk provision amounting to Rs 526.37 billion was written back from contingency Fund (CF) to income.

"As the Reserve Bank's financial resilience was within the desired range, the excess risk provision amounting to Rs 526.37 billion was written back from Contingency Fund (CF) to income", the annual report said.

The surplus before the above adjustments amounted to RS 1,234.14 billion. Consequent toAthe said adjustments, the surplus transferable to Government of India was Rs 1,759.87 billion including Rs 280 billion already transferred to the Government of India during the year.

RBI has announced transfer of ARs 1.76 lakh crore surplus to the government for 2018- 19 recently.
IANS