RBI Governor Urjit Patel tweaks monetary policy communication practices

Following the change of guard at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and ushering in of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the practice of communicating monetary policy has been changed.

MPC will meet on October 3 and 4. The resolution of the MPC will be placed on RBI’s website at 2.30 pm on October 4. This would be followed by a press conference at 2.45 pm on October.

In the past, the RBI uses to release the monetary policy review statement in public domain by 11 am, followed by a press conference.

As for the conventional practice of the governor addressing heads of banks after releasing the policy, there is no word from RBI as yet if the new Governor, Urjit Patel, will discuss it with them. 

The policy review on October 2016 will be the first exercise of MPC after the government notified the panel. The MPC panel consists six members. Out of which, three are from the RBI, including its governor, deputy governor in charge of monetary policy and one officer nominated by its central board.

The three external members of the MPC are Chetan Ghate, professor, India Statistical Institute; Pami Dua, director, Delhi School of Economics; and Ravindra H Dholakia, professor, Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad). These shall hold office for a period of four years or until further orders.