Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India. It monitors, formulates and implements India’s monetary policy. Established in the year 1935, RBI was nationalized in the year 1949. Owned fully by the Government of India, Reserve Bank has 22 regional offices in various state capitals of India with its headquarters located in Mumbai. It has a majority stake in the State Bank of India.
Role of RBI
RBI formulates the monetary policy, thus regulating and supervising the economy of India. RBI is the supreme banking authority in India. It sets the guidelines according to which the banking operations and financial systems within the country functions. i. Issuer of currency
RBI is the sole authority for the issue of currency in India. Major currency is in the form of RBI notes, such as notes in the denominations of two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, five hundred, and one thousand.RBI has two departments - the Issue department and Banking department. The issue department is dedicated to issuing currency. All the currency issued is the monetary liability of RBI that is backed by assets of equal value held by this department. Assets consist of gold, coin, bullion, foreign securities, rupee coins, and the government’s rupee securities. The department acquires these assets whenever required by issuing currency. The conditions governing the composition of these assets determine the nature of the currency standard that prevails in India.
The Banking department of RBI looks after the banking operations. It takes care of the currency in circulation and its withdrawal from circulation. Issuing new currency is known as expansion of currency and withdrawal of currency is known as contraction of currency. ii. Banker to the government
RBI acts as banker, both to the central government and state governments. It manages all the banking transactions of the government involving the receipt and payment of