Monetary policy panel meet to take a call on interest rates: RBI

The upcoming fourth bi-monthly monetary policy on October 4 will be the first to be decided on the recommendations of the newly formed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). It will meet on October 3 and 4 for the review, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said here on Friday.

"The Monetary Policy Committee will meet on October 3 and 4, 2016, for the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2016-17," the RBI said in a statement.

"The resolution of the MPC will be placed on the website at 2.30 p.m on October 4, 2016," the statement said.

The central government had notified the constitution of the Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday.

Three academics from the country's top institutions have been named the government nominee members to the Monetary Policy Committee. The committee has been mandated to ensure the country's retail inflation stays within a band of four per cent, plus or minus two percentage points.

The names, cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, are: Chetan Ghate, Professor at the Indian Statistical Institute; Pami Dua, Director at Delhi School of Economics; and Ravindra Dholakia, Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

The members of the Monetary Policy Committee appointed by the Central Government will hold office for a period of four years.

The RBI has also named its set of three representatives to the six-member committee -- the RBI Governor, at present Urjit Patel who is also the MPC chair with a casting vote, Deputy Governor R. Gandhi and Executive Director Michael Patra.

The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, (RBI Act) was amended by the Finance Act, 2016, to provide for a statutory and institutionalised framework for a Monetary Policy Committee, for maintaining price stability.

--IANS

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