Finmin officials to meet MPC members this week

Ahead of the bi-monthly policy review, finance ministry officials are scheduled this week to meet the members of high-powered interest rate setting panel, headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel.
Separate meetings have been scheduled with the three external members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and the Reserve Bank of India representatives on the committee, sources said.
The finance ministry officials will meet the MPC's external members on June 1, while the meeting with the RBI members on the panel and its chief on the following day, they said.
The ministry will be represented by Economic Affairs Secretary, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal.

The bi-monthly monetary policy review is to be unveiled on June 7.
The government constituted MPC last year after the then RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan completed his three-year term.

The government nominees on MPC headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel are Chetan Ghate, professor at the Indian Statistical Institute; Pami Dua, Director Delhi School of Economics and Ravindra H Dholakia, professor at IIM-Ahmedabad.
RBI nominees are the governor, a deputy governor and one more representative from the central bank.
The MPC was set up by amending the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, through the Finance Act 2016.
The MPC works with regard to setting up interest rate to meet the inflation target fixed by the government.

Under the agreement with the government, RBI is committed to anchoring retail inflation at 4 per cent (plus/minus 2 per cent) and has set itself a target of 5 per cent by next March as part of a 'glide path' to achieving the median mark.
As per the norms for MPC, each member shall have one vote and in case of a tie, the RBI Governor shall have a casting vote. Presently, the Governor has over-riding powers to accept or reject the recommendation of RBI's panel on monetary policy.
The governor has a casting vote once the country shifts to the panel system.

Members of the MPC are appointed for a period of four years and shall not be eligible for reappointment.