The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will pay a record Rs 2.69 lakh crore dividend to the central government for fiscal 2024-25, an amount that will help the exchequer tide over a possible shortfall in tax collections due to weak growth amid tariffs imposed by the US. It will also help meet the government's fiscal target of 4.4% for the current financial year.

The RBI’s dividend payment this year is 27.4% higher than FY24, which stood at Rs 2.1 lakh crore compared to Rs 87,416 crore in 2022-23. 

The decision on the dividend payout was taken at the 616th meeting of the Central Board of Directors of RBI under the chairmanship of Governor Sanjay Malhotra.

The  board reviewed the global and domestic economic scenario, including risks to the outlook, RBI said in a statement.

The board also discussed the working of the Reserve Bank during the year April 2024-March 2025 and approved the Reserve Bank's Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year 2024-25.

The transferable surplus for the year (2024-25) has been arrived at on the basis of the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF) as approved by the Central Board in its meeting held on 15 May 2025.

"The Board...approved the transfer of Rs 2,68,590.07 crore as surplus to the Central Government for the accounting year 2024-25," RBI said.

The revised framework stipulates that the risk provisioning under the Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) be maintained within a range of 7.50% to 4.50% of the RBI's balance sheet.

Based on the revised ECF, and taking into consideration the macroeconomic assessment, the Central Board decided to further increase the CRB to 7.50%, RBI said.

The RBI makes an annual payout to the government from the surplus income earned from investments and valuation changes on its foreign exchange holdings, including the dollar, and the fees it gets from printing currency notes.