Monetary Policy Committee of RBI reconstituted with new members

New Delhi: The central government has reconstituted the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The government issued a notification on October 1 with the newly included names of the members of the MPC.

The six-member MPC is responsible for setting policy interest rates and framing monetary policy to control inflation and support economic growth in the country.

According to the RBI Act, the MPC comprises three members from the RBI and three external members appointed by the Central Government. The newly reconstituted committee consists of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India as the Chairperson, ex officio; the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in charge of monetary policy--Member, ex officio, and one officer of the Reserve Bank of India, nominated by the Central Board -- Member, ex officio.

The new external members included in the MPC are Professor Ram Singh, Director, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Saugata Bhattacharya, economist; and Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Director and Chief Executive, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development.

They replaced Ashima Goyal, who served as the at emeritus professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Shashanka Bhide, honorary senior advisor, National Council of Applied Economic Research and Jayanth R. Varma, professor at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

The news external members, appointed by the government (Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya, and Nagesh Kumar), will serve for a period of four years or until further orders, whichever comes earlier, as per the statement.

The MPC is entrusted with formulating India's monetary policy, primarily through setting benchmark interest rates, to ensure price stability while maintaining economic growth. The reconstituted committee comes into effect immediately, as per the finance ministry.