RBI says MPC meet rescheduled; new dates to be announced soon

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that was scheduled to start on Tuesday is being rescheduled, and the new dates will be announced shortly.

The central bank did not provide any reason for such rescheduling. However, the reason behing the rescheduling could be the pending appointment of external committee members. The tenure of the three external members on the committee -- Ravindra Dholakia, Chetan Ghate and Pami Dua -- was to end in September, and the last MPC meeting was held in August.

The government has been deliberating on the new appointments to the committee, but the names of the new members are yet to be announced.

“The meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) during September 29, 30 and October 1, 2020 as announced vide Press Release 2019-2020/2248 dated April 20, 2020 is being rescheduled,” the central bank said in a release.

“The dates of the MPC’s meeting will be announced shortly,” it added.

Analysts had widely expected the MPC to hold the repo rate at the upcoming meet. It kept its benchmark repo rate at 4 per cent during its August meeting, aiming to ensure inflation remains within target going forward following a recent climb in prices due to the coronavirus pandemic.