Meet Ravindra Dholakia: MPC's sole dissenting member

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday voted 5:1 in favour of the decision on maintaining status quo. This was the first MPC meeting that had a dissent note, which was by IIM Ahmedabad faculty member Ravindra H Dholakia, who voted against maintaining status quo. The last cut in repo rate was in October 2016, when the MPC met for the first time and reduced the policy rate by 25 basis points from 6.5 per cent to 6.25 per cent. According to MPC norms, each member shall have one vote and in case of a tie, the RBI governor shall have a casting vote. 

A look at Dholakia’s views on rates and policy at previous MPC meetings:

October 2016: 

* There are good chances for the consumer inflation to soften further substantially

* Several reforms improving path for growth of Indian economy

* Batted for 25 basis point cut in repo rate

December 2016:

* Core inflation remained sticky with high inflationary expectations 

* Banks had passed on less than 50 per cent of policy rate cuts since January 2015, Much room to lenders to reduce rates

* Surge in liquidity post demonetisation to exert more influence on banks to reduce lending rates further  

* Favoured to keep repo rate constant  

February 2017:

* The decline in overall CPI inflation is not reliably stable 

* Lending rate may move up marginally as demonetisation recedes and remonetisation sets in

* Firmly supported shift in stance from accommodative to neutral

April 2017:

* Demonetisation effects transitory and of lower magnitude 

* Modest improvement in the domestic macroeconomic performance seen core inflation likely to show a declining trend in 2017-18

* The time not ripe for repo rate change as system still surplus liquidity still floating in system