The Reserve Bank of India, in its annual report, on Thursday said its balance sheet increased 11.08% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 70.47 trillion as on March 31, 2024, riding on liquidity and foreign exchange operations.
Notably, the balance sheet was Rs 63.44 trillion a year ago. Further, the balance sheet increased to 24.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) at end-March 2024, from 23.5% at end-March 2023.
The balance sheet has returned to its pre-pandemic level, the central bank highlighted in the report.
RBI’s income increased 17.04% Y-o-Y to Rs 2.75 trillion. The increase was mainly due to profit from foreign exchange sales.
Further, the report said that the expenditure declined by 56.29% Y-o-Y to Rs 64,694.33 crore. This included a provision of Rs 42,819.91 crore made and transferred to the contingency fund (CF).
The allocation was meant to protect the central bank from the depreciation of value in securities and risks from monetary and forex operations.
In FY23, Rs 1.30 trillion was allocated to CF. The contingency risk buffer now stands at 6.5% of the balance sheet at the end of March 2024, up from 6% at end-March 2023.
The norm is maintaining a risk buffer between 5.5 and 6.5%.
The increase on the asset side was due to a rise in foreign investments, gold, and loans and advances. On the liability side, the expansion was due to an increase in notes issued by 3.88%, deposits 27%, and other liabilities 92.57%.