“With tax collections for the first quarter being muted by more than 30 per cent and nearly 80 per cent of the annual fiscal deficit target already utilised, the government is exploring all possible options to raise revenues,” Divakar Vijayasarathy, Founder and Managing Partner, DVS Advisors LLP, told Financial Express Online. RBI has decided to retain the contingency risk reserve at 5.5% which is the lower end of the recommendation of Bimal Jalan committee, he added. Considering the twin factors of the current pandemic and that the dividend may not bring down the borrowing requirement of the government substantially, the board could have gone on to increase the Contingency risk reserve to 6.5 per cent, he further said.
