RBI Board Recommends Aligning Accounting Year With Fiscal Year From 2020-21

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will align its financial accounting year with that of the central government with effect from 2020-21 — a move that may put an end to the practice of the exchequer getting interim dividend from the central bank. The decision was taken at a meeting of the RBI’s central board held in the national capital on Saturday.

“The board recommended aligning the financial year of the RBI, currently July-June, with the government’s fiscal year (April-March) from the year 2020-21 and approved forwarding a proposal to the government for its consideration,” a statement from the RBI said.

With this move, the central bank will do away with nearly eight decades of practice. The RBI, which was established in April 1935, used to follow January-December as its accounting year before it was changed to July-June in March 1940.