• The Reserve Bank announced the launch of a mobile app for Retail Direct portal to enable retail investors to participate in government securities (G-Secs) or government bonds market.

• RBI Retail Direct Scheme was launched in November 2021.

• It is a one-stop solution to facilitate investment in government securities by individual investors.

• It gives access to individual investors to maintain gilt accounts with the RBI and invest in government securities.

• A gilt account means an account opened and maintained for holding government securities, by an entity or a person, including a resident outside India, with a custodian permitted by the RBI to open and maintain Constituent Subsidiary General Ledger Account (CSGL) with the Public Debt Office of the RBI.

• Government securities, for the purpose of the scheme, mean securities issued in form of stock by credit to Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL)/Constituent Subsidiary General Ledger (CSGL) account maintained with RBI. These include Treasury Bills, government of India dated securities, Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) and State Development Loans (SDLs).

• The account can be opened through an online portal provided for the purpose of the scheme.

• To further improve ease of access, a mobile application of the Retail Direct portal is being developed. The app will enable investors to buy and sell instruments on the go, at their convenience.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store