The finance ministry has sought from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Rs 27,380 crore that was withheld by the central bank <a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/govt-wants-policy-on-how-much-cash-reserve-rbi-should-have-board-member-s-gurumurthy-177590">towards risks and reserves</a> in previous years, sources have said.

The RBI had retained Rs 13,190 crore towards risks and reserves in 2016-17. It increased to Rs 14,190 crore in 2017-18. Together, the&nbsp;retained amount is Rs 27,380 crore.

The ministry has requested the RBI to provide an interim surplus for the current fiscal on the analogy of the previous financial year and transfer the amount withheld from the surplus of 2016-17 and 2017-18, sources said.

Earlier this month, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg had said the government expects Rs 28,000 crore from the RBI as interim dividend during the current fiscal.

The RBI, which follows July-June financial year, has already transferred Rs 40,000 crore in the current fiscal.

If the central board of the RBI approves the transfer of Rs 28,000 crore requested by the government as interim dividend for the current fiscal, the total surplus transfer by the central bank would be Rs 68,000 crore in 2018-19.

According to sources, the government expects Rs 69,000 crore dividend in the next financial year.

The government has projected to mobilise Rs 82,911.56 crore as dividend or surplus from the RBI, nationalised banks and financial institutions during 2019-20.

After making provision for bad and doubtful debts, depreciation in assets, contribution to staff and superannuation fund and for all matters for which the provision is to be made by or under the Act or which are usually provided by bankers, the balance of the profits shall be paid to the central government, as per the RBI Act.

The finance ministry has sought from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Rs 27,380 crore that was withheld by the central bank towards risks and reserves in previous years, sources have said.

The finance ministry has sought from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Rs 27,380 crore that was withheld by the central bank towards risks and reserves in previous years, sources have said. The RBI had retained Rs 13,190 crore towards risks and reserves in 2016-17. It increased to Rs 14,190 crore in 2017-18. Together, the retained amount is Rs 27,380 crore. The ministry has requested the RBI to provide an interim surplus for the current fiscal on the analogy of the previous financial year and transfer the amount withheld from the surplus of 2016-17 and 2017-18, sources said. Earlier this month, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg had said the government expects Rs 28,000 crore from the RBI as interim dividend during the current fiscal. The RBI, which follows July-June financial year, has already transferred Rs 40,000 crore in the current fiscal. If the central board of the RBI approves the transfer of Rs 28,000 crore requested by the government as interim dividend for the current fiscal, the total surplus transfer by the central bank would be Rs 68,000 crore in 2018-19. According to sources, the government expects Rs 69,000 crore dividend in the next financial year. The government has projected to mobilise Rs 82,911.56 crore as dividend or surplus from the RBI, nationalised banks and financial institutions during 2019-20. After making provision for bad and doubtful debts, depreciation in assets, contribution to staff and superannuation fund and for all matters for which the provision is to be made by or under the Act or which are usually provided by bankers, the balance of the profits shall be paid to the central government, as per the RBI Act.

Government asks Reserve Bank of India for Rs 27,380 crore: Sources

Former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das Wednesday assumed charge as the RBI Governor.

He replaces Urjit Patel who abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank.

"Assumed charge as Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Thank you each and everyone for your good wishes," Das said in a tweet.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed Das as a person with "right credentials" for the RBI top job.

"Das has been a very senior and an experienced civil servant. He has almost his entire career in the management of finances and economic management of the country both, when he was in the state government of Tamil Nadu and also when he was in the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance," Jaitley said.

Das, who becomes 25th governor of the RBI, is a former IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

Jaitley said his appointment was necessitated by the resignation of Urjit Patel as Governor of the RBI on Monday.

"I think, he (Das) has the right credentials. He has been extremely professional, has worked under various governments and has excelled himself. I am sure, in meeting the challenges before India's economy as Governor of Reserve Bank, he will certainly act," the finance minister said.&nbsp;

Former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das Wednesday assumed charge as the RBI Governor. He replaces Urjit Patel who abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank.

Former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das Wednesday assumed charge as the RBI Governor. He replaces Urjit Patel who abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank. "Assumed charge as Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Thank you each and everyone for your good wishes," Das said in a tweet. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed Das as a person with "right credentials" for the RBI top job. "Das has been a very senior and an experienced civil servant. He has almost his entire career in the management of finances and economic management of the country both, when he was in the state government of Tamil Nadu and also when he was in the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance," Jaitley said. Das, who becomes 25th governor of the RBI, is a former IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. Jaitley said his appointment was necessitated by the resignation of Urjit Patel as Governor of the RBI on Monday. "I think, he (Das) has the right credentials. He has been extremely professional, has worked under various governments and has excelled himself. I am sure, in meeting the challenges before India's economy as Governor of Reserve Bank, he will certainly act," the finance minister said.

Shaktikanta Das assumes charge as 25th RBI governor

The government Friday said it is not seeking Rs 3.6 lakh crore capital from the Reserve Bank but is only in discussion for fixing appropriate economic capital framework of the central bank.

"Lot of misinformed speculation is going around in media. Government's fiscal math is completely on track. There is no proposal to ask RBI to transfer Rs 3.6 or 1 lakh crore, as speculated," Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg tweeted.

He said the only proposal "under discussion is to fix appropriate economic capital framework of RBI."

Exuding confidence about government's fiscal math, he said, it will stick to the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent for the current financial year ending March 31, 2019.

"Government's FD (fiscal deficit) in FY 2013-14 was 5.1%. From 2014-15 onwards, Government has succeeded in bringing it down substantially. We will end the FY 2018-19 with FD of 3.3%. Government has actually foregone 70,000 crore of budgeted market borrowing this year," he said.&nbsp;

The government Friday said it is not seeking Rs 3.6 lakh crore capital from the Reserve Bank but is only in discussion for fixing appropriate economic capital framework of the central bank.

The government Friday said it is not seeking Rs 3.6 lakh crore capital from the Reserve Bank but is only in discussion for fixing appropriate economic capital framework of the central bank. "Lot of misinformed speculation is going around in media. Government's fiscal math is completely on track. There is no proposal to ask RBI to transfer Rs 3.6 or 1 lakh crore, as speculated," Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg tweeted. He said the only proposal "under discussion is to fix appropriate economic capital framework of RBI." Exuding confidence about government's fiscal math, he said, it will stick to the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent for the current financial year ending March 31, 2019. "Government's FD (fiscal deficit) in FY 2013-14 was 5.1%. From 2014-15 onwards, Government has succeeded in bringing it down substantially. We will end the FY 2018-19 with FD of 3.3%. Government has actually foregone 70,000 crore of budgeted market borrowing this year," he said.

Government not seeking Rs 3.6 lakh crore from RBI: DEA Secretary

Currencies in 500, 200 and 100 denominations are comfortable mode for transactions and the printing of Rs 500 notes have been ramped-up to about Rs 3,000 crore everyday to take care of extra demand, economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said.

He said the cash situation in the country is "quite comfortable" and extra demand is being fully met.

Speaking to PTI, Garg also said the fundamentals of economy does not call for an interest rate hike at the moment as there has not been any "disproportionate rise in inflation" or "extra ordinary growth in output".

The secretary said he had reviewed the cash situation in the country last week and 85 per cent of the ATMs was functional.

"Overall in the country, I think its (cash situation) quite comfortable. There is enough cash which is being supplied and there is extra demand which is being fully met. I don't think there is any cash related crisis or problem at this point of time," Garg said.

There are about Rs 7 lakh crore of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation, which is more than adequate and and so no new Rs 2,000 notes are being issued.

"500 and 200 and 100 rupee note is people's medium of transaction. That's what people use, people don't find Rs 2,000 rupee note as a very comfortable medium for making transaction. 500 rupee notes is very adequately supplied. We have ramped up production to the level that it is about Rs 2,500-3000 crore a day. So, that is much more than any demand. People's need for transaction is being taken care of by these," he said.

The Reserve Bank has been strengthening the security features of currency notes to ensure that they are not duplicated.

"In last 2.5 years, there has been much less instances, almost non existent instances, of high quality fake notes being reported in the country. But still RBI keeps on reviewing, finding out, adding new features," Garg said.

Asked about a monetary policy committee member favouring withdrawal of accommodative stance, he said: "We should go by what the real numbers are. Have you seen disproportionate rise in inflation numbers? Have you seen extra ordinary growth in output which has reduced the output gap substantially? No. So, one should go by the fundamentals and wait for next policy announcement".

The next meeting of MPC is scheduled on June 4-5.

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, had last month left the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 6 per cent for the third time in a row.&nbsp;

As per the minutes of the MPC meeting, RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya favoured withdrawal of monetary accommodation in the next policy review meet.

The retail inflation in March slipped to a 5 month low of 4.27 per cent on account of decline in food prices.

The RBI has revised downwards forecast for retail inflation to 4.7-5.1 per cent for April-September and 4.4 per cent for October-March.

"If there is any real situation where inflation seems to overshoot, RBI does have a statutory mandate to keep the inflation around 4 per cent, so they would take the most appropriate steps for that. But is the situation there? That is the situation we need to see," Garg said.&nbsp;

Economic affairs secretary said the cash situation in the country is "quite comfortable" and extra demand is being fully met.

Currencies in 500, 200 and 100 denominations are comfortable mode for transactions and the printing of Rs 500 notes have been ramped-up to about Rs 3,000 crore everyday to take care of extra demand, economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said. He said the cash situation in the country is "quite comfortable" and extra demand is being fully met. Speaking to PTI, Garg also said the fundamentals of economy does not call for an interest rate hike at the moment as there has not been any "disproportionate rise in inflation" or "extra ordinary growth in output". The secretary said he had reviewed the cash situation in the country last week and 85 per cent of the ATMs was functional. "Overall in the country, I think its (cash situation) quite comfortable. There is enough cash which is being supplied and there is extra demand which is being fully met. I don't think there is any cash related crisis or problem at this point of time," Garg said. There are about Rs 7 lakh crore of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation, which is more than adequate and and so no new Rs 2,000 notes are being issued. "500 and 200 and 100 rupee note is people's medium of transaction. That's what people use, people don't find Rs 2,000 rupee note as a very comfortable medium for making transaction. 500 rupee notes is very adequately supplied. We have ramped up production to the level that it is about Rs 2,500-3000 crore a day. So, that is much more than any demand. People's need for transaction is being taken care of by these," he said. The Reserve Bank has been strengthening the security features of currency notes to ensure that they are not duplicated. "In last 2.5 years, there has been much less instances, almost non existent instances, of high quality fake notes being reported in the country. But still RBI keeps on reviewing, finding out, adding new features," Garg said. Asked about a monetary policy committee member favouring withdrawal of accommodative stance, he said: "We should go by what the real numbers are. Have you seen disproportionate rise in inflation numbers? Have you seen extra ordinary growth in output which has reduced the output gap substantially? No. So, one should go by the fundamentals and wait for next policy announcement". The next meeting of MPC is scheduled on June 4-5. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, had last month left the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 6 per cent for the third time in a row. As per the minutes of the MPC meeting, RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya favoured withdrawal of monetary accommodation in the next policy review meet. The retail inflation in March slipped to a 5 month low of 4.27 per cent on account of decline in food prices. The RBI has revised downwards forecast for retail inflation to 4.7-5.1 per cent for April-September and 4.4 per cent for October-March. "If there is any real situation where inflation seems to overshoot, RBI does have a statutory mandate to keep the inflation around 4 per cent, so they would take the most appropriate steps for that. But is the situation there? That is the situation we need to see," Garg said.

Rs 500 notes worth Rs 3,000 crore printed every day: Economic affairs secretary

India will meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent of GDP for the 2017/18 fiscal year which ends in March, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said on Thursday.

"Quite confident that fiscal deficit will be within 3.5 per cent of GDP," the top finance ministry official said.

On Wednesday, India reported a fiscal deficit of 7.2 trillion rupees ($110.42 billion) for April-February, which was 120.3 percent of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year.

The economic affairs secretary said that the government now had preliminary numbers till March 28 which indicated that it was "very close" to the revised fiscal and revenue deficits for the current fiscal year. 
&nbsp;

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Fiscal accounts numbers released yesterday indicated end February position. We now have flash numbers until 28th March. We are very close to RE estimates for both Fiscal Deficit and Revenue Deficit. Quite confidant that FD will be within 3.5% of GDP.
— Subhash Chandra Garg (@SecretaryDEA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecretaryDEA/status/979212090253725696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

(With inputs from Reuters) 
&nbsp;

The economic affairs secretary said that the government now had preliminary numbers till March 28 which indicated that it was 'very close' to the revised fiscal and revenue deficits for the current fiscal year

India will meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent of GDP for the 2017/18 fiscal year which ends in March, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said on Thursday. "Quite confident that fiscal deficit will be within 3.5 per cent of GDP," the top finance ministry official said. On Wednesday, India reported a fiscal deficit of 7.2 trillion rupees ($110.42 billion) for April-February, which was 120.3 percent of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year. The economic affairs secretary said that the government now had preliminary numbers till March 28 which indicated that it was "very close" to the revised fiscal and revenue deficits for the current fiscal year. Fiscal accounts numbers released yesterday indicated end February position. We now have flash numbers until 28th March. We are very close to RE estimates for both Fiscal Deficit and Revenue Deficit. Quite confidant that FD will be within 3.5% of GDP. — Subhash Chandra Garg (@SecretaryDEA) March 29, 2018 × (With inputs from Reuters)

On course to meeting fiscal deficit target: Top finance ministry official

The government came out all guns blazing, defending the economic measures it has taken in recent years after concerns raised by the&nbsp;opposition on GDP growth.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, along with economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg and finance secretary Ashok Lavasa, gave a presentation on the economic plan charted out by the government to put India on a higher-growth track.

&quot;There have been lot of discussions and reviews of the economy in the past few weeks within the ministry. When results of the GDP of the first quarter came out then I had said that we will be ready for the response,&quot; Jaitley said.

India has remained the world&#39;s fastest-growing large economy for the past three years, he added.

Hailing GST, Subhash Chandra Garg said it has been the biggest reform, along with others like demonetisation and the battle against black money. He then delved into the presentation, giving details about the reduced amount of current account deficit and the overall health of the economy.

Then Lavasa took over and talked about how the government is creating more jobs and has increased its public spending.

&quot;We have launched the biggest component of road-building programme, the ?Bharat Mala programme which has been cleared by the Union Cabinet today. It will lead to building of 34,800 km of roads,&quot; Lavasa said highlighting government&rsquo;s push towards infrastructure.

About 2000 km of coastal roads will be constructed in first phase of Bharat Mala, he added.

The government said a total of&nbsp;83,677 kms of roads would be built over the next five years, creating &quot;more jobs&quot; and leading to &quot;more growth&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The second large scheme announced by Team Jaitley today was an &quot;unprecedented&quot; recapitalisation -- by Rs 2.11 lakh crore -- of public sector banks.&nbsp;

The recapitalisation, Team Jaitley said, had come after a cleaning up of the banks and their&nbsp;non-performing assets and would encourage the banks to lend to private enterprise.&nbsp;

Since it came to power three years ago, the Modi government has taken many bold steps to give boost to India&rsquo;s economy, like the a new tax regime the Goods and Services Tax and demonetisation. But both the decisions have been slammed by the opposition and other sections of society.

The Congress has even said that it will mark November 8, 2017 - the first anniversary of demonetisation - as a &#39;Black Day&#39;.

But the government has been firm in its resolve and has maintained that these economic reforms will have positive impact in long term. Many global bodies, including the IMF, have given thumbs up to government&rsquo;s reforms and have predicted bright future for Indian economy.

Team Jaitley said 83,677 kms of roads would be built over the next five years, creating 'more jobs' and leading to 'more growth'

The government came out all guns blazing, defending the economic measures it has taken in recent years after concerns raised by the opposition on GDP growth. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, along with economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg and finance secretary Ashok Lavasa, gave a presentation on the economic plan charted out by the government to put India on a higher-growth track. "There have been lot of discussions and reviews of the economy in the past few weeks within the ministry. When results of the GDP of the first quarter came out then I had said that we will be ready for the response," Jaitley said. India has remained the world's fastest-growing large economy for the past three years, he added. Hailing GST, Subhash Chandra Garg said it has been the biggest reform, along with others like demonetisation and the battle against black money. He then delved into the presentation, giving details about the reduced amount of current account deficit and the overall health of the economy. Then Lavasa took over and talked about how the government is creating more jobs and has increased its public spending. "We have launched the biggest component of road-building programme, the ?Bharat Mala programme which has been cleared by the Union Cabinet today. It will lead to building of 34,800 km of roads," Lavasa said highlighting government’s push towards infrastructure. About 2000 km of coastal roads will be constructed in first phase of Bharat Mala, he added. The government said a total of 83,677 kms of roads would be built over the next five years, creating "more jobs" and leading to "more growth". The second large scheme announced by Team Jaitley today was an "unprecedented" recapitalisation -- by Rs 2.11 lakh crore -- of public sector banks. The recapitalisation, Team Jaitley said, had come after a cleaning up of the banks and their non-performing assets and would encourage the banks to lend to private enterprise. Since it came to power three years ago, the Modi government has taken many bold steps to give boost to India’s economy, like the a new tax regime the Goods and Services Tax and demonetisation. But both the decisions have been slammed by the opposition and other sections of society. The Congress has even said that it will mark November 8, 2017 - the first anniversary of demonetisation - as a 'Black Day'. But the government has been firm in its resolve and has maintained that these economic reforms will have positive impact in long term. Many global bodies, including the IMF, have given thumbs up to government’s reforms and have predicted bright future for Indian economy.

New highways, job creation part of govt plan to push India on high-growth track

The economic affairs secretary Wednesday quashed rumours of a new Rs 1,000 note being rolled out.&nbsp;

&quot;No plans to introduce Rs 1000 notes. Focus is on production &amp; supply of Rs 500 and lower deonomination notes,&quot; Shaktikanta Das tweeted.&nbsp;

Social media had been abuzz recently with the rumour that a new note was in the offing.

The government had demonetised the old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes on November 8 last year. It has since then rolled out new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes.

The demonetisation of the old notes added up 86 per cent of the country&#39;s currency being taken out of circulation, leading to severe problems all around.&nbsp;

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No plans to introduce ?1000 notes. Focus is on production &amp; supply of ?500 &amp; lower denomination notes,tweets Eco Affairs Secy Shaktikant Das <a href="https://t.co/k3ugryuJVU">pic.twitter.com/k3ugryuJVU</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/834269088687980544">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Complaints of cash out in ATMs being addressed.Request ppl to draw cash they actually require.Overdrawal by some deprives others ,tweets Das <a href="https://t.co/qPv9qSIiiY">pic.twitter.com/qPv9qSIiiY</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/834270122860826624">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Enough cash available. Logistics, issues of reloading ATMs more frequently being addressed, tweets Economic Affairs Secy Shaktikanta Das <a href="https://t.co/Ea3iB0tS5f">pic.twitter.com/Ea3iB0tS5f</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/834310258952634369">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Das addressed some of those problems too on Wednesday, tweeting: &quot;Complaints of cash out in ATMs being addressed.&quot;&nbsp;

But he put the onus on the people, saying, &quot;Request ppl to draw cash they actually require. Overdrawal by some deprives others.&quot;

He added: &quot;Enough cash available. Logistics, issues of reloading ATMs more frequently being addressed.&quot;&nbsp;

(WION)

Social media had been abuzz recently with the rumour that a new note was in the offing

The economic affairs secretary Wednesday quashed rumours of a new Rs 1,000 note being rolled out. "No plans to introduce Rs 1000 notes. Focus is on production & supply of Rs 500 and lower deonomination notes," Shaktikanta Das tweeted. Social media had been abuzz recently with the rumour that a new note was in the offing. The government had demonetised the old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes on November 8 last year. It has since then rolled out new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes. The demonetisation of the old notes added up 86 per cent of the country's currency being taken out of circulation, leading to severe problems all around. No plans to introduce ?1000 notes. Focus is on production & supply of ?500 & lower denomination notes,tweets Eco Affairs Secy Shaktikant Das pic.twitter.com/k3ugryuJVU — ANI (@ANI_news) February 22, 2017 × Complaints of cash out in ATMs being addressed.Request ppl to draw cash they actually require.Overdrawal by some deprives others ,tweets Das pic.twitter.com/qPv9qSIiiY — ANI (@ANI_news) February 22, 2017 × Enough cash available. Logistics, issues of reloading ATMs more frequently being addressed, tweets Economic Affairs Secy Shaktikanta Das pic.twitter.com/Ea3iB0tS5f — ANI (@ANI_news) February 22, 2017 × Das addressed some of those problems too on Wednesday, tweeting: "Complaints of cash out in ATMs being addressed." But he put the onus on the people, saying, "Request ppl to draw cash they actually require. Overdrawal by some deprives others." He added: "Enough cash available. Logistics, issues of reloading ATMs more frequently being addressed." (WION)

Demonetisation: No new Rs 1,000 note coming, says Shaktikanta Das