The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) transferred Rs 1,14,567 crore to the contingency fund (CF) in FY22 as against ₹20,710 crore in FY21, thereby bringing down the surplus it transferred to the government, according to its annual report. This is nearly six times the amount set aside for the contingency fund last year.

The RBI’s Board, at a meeting on May 20th, approved a sharply lower surplus transfer of ₹30,307 crore to the government for the accounting year 2021-22, the lowest in 10 years. This was in sharp contrast to the surplus transfer of ₹99,122 crore for the nine months ended March 31, 2021.

CF refers to provisions for meeting unexpected and unforeseen contingencies, including depreciation in the value of securities, risks arising out of monetary or exchange rate policy operations, systemic risks, and any risk arising on account of the special responsibilities enjoined upon the RBI.

The size of the RBI’s balance sheet increased by ₹4,82,633.14 crore, or 8.46 per cent, from ₹57,07,669.13 crore as on March 31, 2021 to ₹61,90,302.27 crore as on March 31, 2022.

The RBI said the increase on the asset side was due to an increase in foreign investments, domestic investments, gold, and loans and advances by 4.28 per cent, 11.67 per cent, 30.07 per cent, and 54.53 per cent, respectively.

On the liability side, the increase was due to an increase in deposits and notes issued by 16.24 per cent and 9.86 per cent, respectively.

Domestic assets constituted 28.22 per cent while foreign currency assets and gold (including gold deposits and gold held in India) constituted 71.78 per cent of total assets as on March 31, 2022, as against 26.42 per cent and 73.58 per cent, respectively, as on March 31, 2021.

The year 2020-21 was a transition year for the Reserve Bank as the accounting year was changed from ‘July to June’ to ‘April to March’ and therefore, the accounting year 2020-21 was of nine-month period — ‘July 2020 to March 2021.’