The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) rate-setting body, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), will start its meeting today, September 29. After reducing repo rates for three consecutive months since February, the MPC kept it steady at 5.5 % in August.
This MPC meeting will last two days, and the rate decision will be announced on Wednesday, October 1. Let’s look at what the MPC is, what to expect from the October meeting, and what has changed since the last policy meeting.
What is RBI Monetary Policy Committee?
The MPC is a rate-setting body formally set up by the RBI in 2016 under the RBI Act of 1934. It was created to improve transparency and collective decision-making in India’s monetary policy. The first MPC meeting took place in October 2016.
October MPC to have a new member
The RBI appointed a new member, Indranil Bhattacharyya, executive director in charge of monetary policy, to the committee. He will replace the outgoing member, Rajiv Ranjan.
The committee has six members. Three members are RBI officials, and the other three are appointed by the government. Sanjay Malhotra, the governor, serves as the chairperson of the committee.
Other members on the committee
- Poonam Gupta, deputy governor in charge of monetary policy
- Saugata Bhattacharya, economist
- Ram Singh, director, Delhi School of Economics
- Nagesh Kumar, director & CEO, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID)
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