Letters: RBI's timing

The mid-quarter and second quarterly reviews of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s monetary policy are scheduled for September 18 and October 29, respectively. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve System meets on September 17-18 and October 29-30. Due to the time difference between Washington DC and Mumbai, the FOMC's press release is available a day later. The forex market in India is deeply affected by the Federal Reserve's decisions in areas such as quantitative easing that have implications for the RBI's policy stance. I remember a former governor saying how, due to the time difference, he kept awake late at night to hear the FOMC announcement because he was to make his own policy statement, already finalised, the next day! Would it not be advisable to time the RBI policy deliberations a day or two after the FOMC meetings when the impact on the forex market would also be known?

A Seshan Mumbai

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