On Monday, the government appointed economists Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R Varma and Shashanka Bhide as members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that sets the rates of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The appointment of the three RBI members was issued by notification in the official gazette of the Government of India.
The Cabinet Appointments Committee (ACC), headed by the prime minister, approved the names, the sources said.
Under the RBI Law, the three new members would serve four-year terms.
According to the newsletter notification, Professor Ashima Goyal is Professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, Professor Jayanth R. Varma, Professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and Dr. Shashanka Bhide, Senior Advisor to the National Research Council Applied Economics, Delhi— Member
The RBI had postponed the last MPC meeting, which was to have a quorum of four, as the appointment of independent members was delayed.
The new members replace Chetan Ghate, Professor at the Indian Institute of Statistics; Pami Dua, Director of the Delhi School of Economics (DSE); and Ravindra Dholakia, Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
“The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting during September 29, 30 and October 1, 2020 will be rescheduled. The dates of the MPC meeting will be announced shortly,” said the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) in a statement. September 28.
The government transferred the interest rate setting function from the RBI governor to the six-member MPC in 2016. Half of the panel, led by the RBI governor, is made up of independent outside members.
Under the RBI Law, external members can serve for a period of four years and are not eligible for re-election.
The other ex-officio members of the MPC are the governor of the reserve bank, the lieutenant governor (in charge of monetary policy), and an RBI official who will be appointed by the central board.
The MPC has been mandated to maintain annual inflation at 4% until March 31, 2021, with a maximum tolerance of 6% and a lower tolerance of 2%.
The external members of the MPC are appointed by the central government from persons of ability, integrity and position, with knowledge and experience in the fields of economics, banking, finance or monetary policy.
The last meeting of the MPC was held from August 4-6, 2020. It was the twenty-fourth meeting of the rating-setting panel.
* With agency contributions
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