MPC meet in spotlight amid speculation over Das' term

Meeting begins today against backdrop of Q2 GDP growth slowdown

- MANOJIT SAHA

The December meeting of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will start on Wednesday even as there is no clarity on whether Governor Shaktikanta Das, the chair of the panel, will continue in office after his term ends next week.

The outcome of the meeting will be announced on Friday by Das at 10 in the morning.

Das was in the Indian Administrative Service. His appointment as governor was announced the day after Urjit Patel had resigned in December 2018. He got an extension in 2021 and completes his current term next week.

The MPC meeting is important because it decides the course of interest rates. Each member of the MPC has one vote on the policy repo rate and the stance of the policy. If the votes are equal, the governor has a second or casting vote.

After raising the policy repo rate by 250 basis points between May 2022 and February 2023, the panel maintained the status quo on the rate.

The tripartite PSA is between the Andhra Pradesh government, Adani Green and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is a public sector company under the new and renewable energy ministry.