Centre is stealing from RBI : Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi : Congress MP Rahul Gandhi commented against the government after the Reserve Bank of India approved Rs 1.76 lakh crore payout to it. He said it was the same as "stealing from the RBI".

"PM & FM are clueless about how to solve their self created economic disaster. Stealing from RBI won't work - it's like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary & sticking it on a gunshot wound," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

In a statement, the RBI said the total payout of Rs 1.76 lakh crore includes Rs 1.23 lakh crore as dividend and Rs 52,640 crore surplus capital. The dividend payment includes Rs 28,000 crore already transferred to the government in February, before the national election.

"Rs. 1.76 lakh cr given to the govt by RBI is almost the exact same amount missing from Budget 2019 announcement. Where was that money spent? Why was it missing from the Budget? Looting the RBI like this only devastates our economy further & reduces credit rating of the bank," the Congress party tweeted.

During the UPA rule in 2009 or 10 years ago, the RBI transferred Rs 25,000 crore to the center. The amount of transfer this year is more than double the Rs 68,000 crore that the RBI provided to the Modi government last year. It exceeds the centre's budget estimate of Rs 90,000 crore as dividend from the RBI