RBI's external committee split on April rate action

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The technical advisory committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was split on whether the central bank should have cut interest rates at its April 7 policy review, with three members recommending no action, according to minutes released on Wednesday.

The RBI held interest rates steady at that review after cutting them by a quarter percentage point in January and in March, outside of scheduled policy reviews.

Ahead of the April 7 review, four members had recommended the RBI cut interest rates again, with two members suggesting easing by 50 basis points because of slowing economic growth. The other two recommended a quarter percentage point rate cut.

However, three members of the committee recommended the RBI take no action and wait for its previous rate cuts to feed through into the economy and for more clarity on inflation, suggesting waiting until August once the impact from the monsoon is known.

The technical advisory committee has no voting powers on rate decisions and its recommendations are merely meant to guide the central bank governor in taking decisions.

(Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)