HDFC Bank on Tuesday said that the board of directors in a meeting scheduled on Friday, June 18, 2021, will consider a proposal for the recommendation of dividend on the equity shares of the bank for the financial year ended March 31, 2021. The bank said that it is in view of the RBI’s April 2021 notification pertaining to the declaration of dividend by banks.
”The Board of Directors of HDFC Bank Limited, at its meeting scheduled to be held on June 18, 2021, shall inter alia consider a proposal for the recommendation of dividend on the equity shares of the Bank for the financial year ended March 31, 2021, in view of the notification of the Reserve Bank of India pertaining to the declaration of dividend by banks released on April 22, 2021,” the bank said in an exchange filing. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a notification on April 22, 2021, had asked banks to restrict dividend payouts for FY21 to 50% to conserve capital and stay resilient amid the covid-19 crisis.
“In view of the continuing uncertainty caused by the ongoing second wave of covid-19 in the country, it is crucial that banks remain resilient and proactively raise and conserve capital as a bulwark against unexpected losses,” the central bank had said in a statement. Cooperative banks, however, were permitted to pay a dividend on equity shares from the profits of the financial year. RBI did not permit banks to pay any dividends in 2019-20 as well. In April last year, it had barred banks from announcing any such rewards amid an outbreak of the pandemic.