At the customary post-budget meeting on Monday headed by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the members of Ministry of Finance discussed the interim budget and economy of India.

RBi Board after the meet has decided to provide to the government an interim surplus of Rs. 28,000 crore. Prior to this, when the decision was left for the RBI board to decide it was explained by RBI governor Shaktikanta Das that the decision on disbursal of interim dividend will have to be taken by the RBI board and not just the RBI central board.

Jaitley highlighted the key points in the budget. "The RBI takes an independent decision on the interim dividend," he further said.

The government has received Rs 40,000 crore from RBI in the financial year 2018-19, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg told the press earlier this month.

The interim dividend amount is decided by the RBI board based on the central bank's audited earnings in the first six months. Its financial year starts in June, which means that the first half of the year will end in December 2018.

The interim dividend will help the government ease the financial pressure and give the economy a boost ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Now that the RBI has agreed to pay an interim dividend of Rs 28,000 crore, the government's total surplus is expected to rise to Rs 68,000 crore.