The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das is set to announce the bi-monthly policy on Thursday, with expectations leaning towards a continued pause on the key interest rate, given that inflation persists near the upper tolerance level of 6 per cent.
RBI MPC – Check date, time, schedule, where to watch:
RBI MPC Meeting Date: The three-day meeting of the RBI’s rate-setting panel commenced on Tuesday and the outcome announcement is scheduled for Thursday.
RBI MPC Meeting Timing: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will reveal the MPC decision at around 10 am on Thursday.
RBI MPC Meeting Schedule: Following the MPC decision, which begins around 10 am, RBI Governor Das will conduct a post-policy press conference at noon on February 8.
RBI MPC Meeting Live Streaming Link: The central bank will broadcast the RBI governor’s policy statement on the RBI’s YouTube channel or RBI’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle.”
What is MPC?
The MPC is entrusted with the responsibility of deciding the policy repo rate to achieve the inflation target, keeping in mind the objective of growth. It consists of three external members and three officials of the RBI.
The external members of the panel are Shashanka Bhide, Ashima Goyal, and Jayanth R Varma. Besides Governor Das, the other RBI officials in MPC are Rajiv Ranjan (Executive Director) and Michael Debabrata Patra (Deputy Governor).
What to expect?
For the past year, the Reserve Bank has maintained the short-term lending rate, or repo rate, at 6.5 per cent. The benchmark interest rate was last increased in February 2023, rising from 6.25 per cent to 6.5 per cent to address inflation, largely influenced by global factors.
Experts anticipate that, for the sixth consecutive time, the central bank will refrain from adjusting the repo rate, primarily due to apprehensions about inflation.
RBI is mandated to maintain retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 4 per cent with a permissible margin of 2 per cent on either side.