RBI postpones MPC meeting by a day to August 3

The Reserve Bank of India has postponed the meeting of its interest rate setting Monetary Policy Committee by a day to August 3 due to administrative exigencies.

The RBI said the decision of the MPC will be known on August 5 as against the earlier schedule of August 4.

“Due to administrative exigencies, it has been decided to reschedule the MPC meeting from August 2-4, 2022 to August 3-5, 2022,” RBI said in a statement on Thursday.

The MPC announces the bi-monthly monetary policy after deliberations on the prevailing domestic and economic situations.

The panel, headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, has two representatives from the central bank and three external members.

It is widely expected that the RBI may increase benchmark interest rate to cool down high inflation. The retail inflation print was 7.01 per cent for June, higher than the RBI’s upper tolerance level. The central government has tasked the RBI to ensure that inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on the either side.

The inflation target for the period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026 under the RBI Act 1934 is 4 per cent with an upper tolerance of 6 per cent and a lower tolerance of 2 per cent.

To tame inflation, the RBI has raised interest rate by 90 basis points in the last two months. The repo rate has gone up from 4 per cent to 4.90 per cent.