sculpture depicting "Prosperity through agriculture" (left) at
Dalhousie Square,
Kolkata The central bank of any country executes many functions such as overseeing monetary policy, issuing currency, managing foreign exchange, working as a bank for government and as a banker of scheduled commercial banks. It also works for overall economic growth of the country. The purposes for which the RBI has been established as India's central bank has been spelt out in the preamble to the RBI Act:
i) "to regulate the issue of banknotes and the keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage; and (ii) that it is essential to have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex economy and the primary objective of the monetary policy is to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth" ...to regulate the issue of Bank Notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage. Financial supervision The primary objective of RBI is to undertake consolidated supervision of the financial sector comprising commercial banks, financial institutions, and non-banking finance companies. The board is constituted by co-opting four directors from the Central Board as members for a term of two years and is chaired by the governor. The deputy governors of the reserve bank are ex-officio members. One deputy governor, usually the deputy governor in charge of banking regulation and supervision, is nominated as the vice-chairman of the board. The board is required to meet normally once every month. It considers inspection reports and other supervisory issues placed before it by the supervisory departments. Board for Financial Supervision (BFS) through the Audit Sub-Committee also aims at upgrading the quality of the statutory audit and internal audit functions in banks and financial institutions. The audit sub-committee includes deputy governor as the chairman and two directors of the Central Board as members. The BFS oversees the functioning of the Department of Banking Supervision (DBS), the Department of Non-Banking Supervision (DNBS) and the Financial Institutions Division (FID) and gives directions on the regulatory and supervisory issues.
Regulator and supervisor of the financial system As a regulator and supervisor of the Indian banking system it ensures financial stability and public confidence in the banking system. It prescribes broad parameters of banking operations within which the country's banking and financial system functions. Its objectives are to maintain public confidence in the system, protect depositors' interest and provide cost-effective banking services to the public. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme has been formulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for effective addressing of complaints by bank customers. The RBI controls the monetary supply, monitors economic indicators like the
gross domestic product and has to decide the design of the rupee banknotes as well as coins. RBI uses methods like on-site inspections, off-site surveillance, scrutiny and periodic meetings to supervise new bank licences, setting capital requirements and regulating interest rates in specific areas. RBI is currently focused on implementing norms.
Regulator and supervisor of the payment and settlement systems Payment and settlement systems play an important role in improving overall economic efficiency. The Payment and Settlement Systems Act of 2007 (PSS Act) gives the Reserve Bank oversight authority, including regulation and supervision, for the payment and settlement systems in the country. In this role, the RBI focuses on the development and functioning of safe, secure and efficient payment and settlement mechanisms. Two payment systems
National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and Real-Time Gross Settlement (
RTGS) allow individuals, companies and firms to transfer funds from one bank to another. These facilities can only be used for transferring money within the country. From 16-December-2019, one can transfer money online using the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) route 24x7, i.e., any time of the day and any day of the week. The Reserve Bank of India stated earlier in December-2019 that bank customers will be able to transfer funds through NEFT around the clock on all days including weekends and holidays from 16-December. In RTGS, transactions are processed continuously 24x7.
Banker and debt manager to government Just as individuals need a bank to carry out their financial transactions effectively and efficiently, governments also need a bank to carry out their financial transactions. The RBI serves this purpose for the Government of India (GoI). The RBI is also a banker to the government and performs merchant banking function for the central and the state governments. As a banker to the Government of India, the RBI maintains its accounts, receive payments into and make payments out of these accounts. The RBI also helps the GoI to raise money from the public via issuing bonds and government-approved securities. In September 2019, a decision at RBI directors meet was taken to change the RBI financial accounting year to March–April to align itself with the central government calendar instead of the current June–July year. RBI issue taxable bonds for investments. From 1 July 2020, RBI is offering Floating Rate Savings Bonds, 2020 (Taxable) – FRSB 2020 (T). The interest on the bonds is payable semi-annually on 1 January and 1 July every year. The coupon on 1 January 2021 shall be paid at 7.15%. The Interest rate for next half-year will be reset every six months, the first reset being on 1 January 2021. There is no option to pay interest on cumulative basis.
Managing foreign exchange The central bank manages to reach different goals of the
Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. Their objective is to facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India. With the increasing integration of the Indian economy with the global economy arising from greater trade and capital flows, the
foreign exchange market has evolved as a key segment of the Indian financial market and the RBI has an important role to play in regulating and managing this segment. The RBI manages forex and gold reserves of the nation. On a given day, the foreign exchange rate reflects the demand for and supply of foreign exchange arising from trade and capital transactions. The RBI's Financial Markets Department (FMD) participates in the foreign exchange market by undertaking sales/purchases of foreign currency to ease volatility in periods of excess demand for/supply of foreign currency.
Issue of currency Other than the Government of India, the Reserve Bank of India is the sole body authorised to issue banknotes in India. The bank also destroys banknotes when they are not fit for circulation. All the money issued by the central bank is its monetary liability, i.e., the central bank is obliged to back the currency with assets of equal value, to enhance public confidence in paper currency. The objectives are to issue banknotes and give the public adequate supply of the same, to maintain the currency and credit system of the country to utilise it in its best advantage, and to maintain the reserves. The RBI maintains the economic structure of the country so that it can achieve the objective of price stability as well as economic development because both objectives are diverse in themselves. For the printing of notes, RBI uses four facilities: • The
Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), a wholly owned company of the Government of India, has printing presses at
Nashik, Maharashtra and
Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. • The
Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL), owned by the RBI, has printing facilities in
Mysore, Karnataka and
Salboni, West Bengal. For the minting of coins, SPMCIL has four mints at
Mumbai,
Noida,
Kolkata and
Hyderabad for coin production.
Bankers' bank branch holds most of India's gold deposits. Reserve Bank of India also works as a central bank where commercial banks are account holders and can deposit money. RBI maintains banking accounts of all scheduled banks. Commercial banks create credit. It is the duty of the RBI to control the credit through the CRR, repo rate, and open market operations. As the bankers' bank, the RBI facilitates the clearing of cheques between the commercial banks and helps the inter-bank transfer of funds. It can grant financial accommodation to schedule banks. It acts as the lender of the last resort by providing emergency advances to the banks.
Detection of fake currency On 22 January 2014; RBI gave a press release stating that after 31 March 2014, it will completely withdraw from circulation of all banknotes issued prior to 2005. From 1 April 2014, the public will be required to approach banks for exchanging these notes. Banks will provide exchange facility for these notes until further communication. The reserve bank has also clarified that the notes issued before 2005 will continue to be legal tender. This would mean that banks are required to exchange the notes for their customers as well as for non-customers. After 1 July 2014, to exchange more than 15 pieces of '500 and '1000 notes, non-customers must furnish proof of identity and residence as well as show
aadhar to the bank branch in order to exchange the notes. This move from the reserve bank is expected to unearth black money held in cash. As the new currency notes have added increased security features, they would help in curbing the menace of fake currency.
Developmental role The central bank has to perform a wide range of promotional functions to support national objectives and industries. Key tools in this effort include Priority Sector Lending such as agriculture, micro and small enterprises (MSE), housing and education. RBI work towards strengthening and supporting small local banks and encourage banks to open branches in rural areas to include large section of society in banking net.
Custodian to foreign exchange The Reserve Bank has custody of the country's reserves of international currency, and this enables the Reserve Bank to deal with crisis connected with adverse balance of payments position.
CSD for G-Sec (government securities) Public Debt Office (PDO) acts as CSD (Central Securities Depository) for G-Sec.
MIFOR (Mumbai interbank forward offer rate) With
LIBOR cessation in 2021, RBI is set to replace
MIFOR with a new benchmark. MIFOR has LIBOR as one of the components and used in
interest rate swap (IRS) markets. == Demonetisation ==