RBI union slams moves for ‘enhanced transfers’ to Centre

Reported moves to force the Reserve Bank to part with ‘enhanced transfers’ to the Centre has invited sharp criticism from the All India Reserve Bank Employees' Association (AIRBEA).

The Association has castigated the statement of Subhas Garg, Secretary, Economic Affairs, saying that the Centre proposed to discuss with the RBI the scope for further transfers.

‘FURTHER TRANSFERS’

Garg has been quoted as saying that the RBI has calculated a surplus Rs 44,000 crore for 2016-17 and has transferred Rs 30,000 crore to the government.

The scope for further transfers is being sought since the government has budgeted Rs 58,000 crore under this head.

Samir Ghosh, General Secretary of AIRBEA, said most probably, the government is eyeing an amount of Rs 13,140 crore that the RBI has transferred to its Contingency Fund after a gap of three years.

During the last three years (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16), the RBI had transferred its entire surplus of Rs 52,679 crore, Rs 65,896 crore and Rs 65,876 crore respectively to the Centre.

Adding up to a humongous Rs 1.85 lakh crore, this amount was transferred by the RBI without any addition to its vital Contingency Fund, Ghosh said.

‘NO REASON TO BUDGE’

In fact, many knowledgeable people had criticised this omission, arguing strongly that the Fund must not be starved of the annual RBI contribution.

The Fund is a cushion against financial exigencies and is a guarantee for the financial independence and, by extension, the autonomy of the central bank.

“We strongly feel that the RBI has no reason to budge or compromise or withdraw the allocation and hand it over to the Centre to meet its budgetary requirement,” Ghosh said.

Any readjustment after allocation of RBI funds to various accounts as approved by its central board cannot be accepted.

The same bureaucrats who have been repeatedly scuttling financial relief to RBI retirees from its own pension corpus, are now seeking financial accommodation from it. The irony here is too obvious to be missed, Ghosh said.