Mumbai, March 12: The Reserve Bank of India will shift to a system of announcing its policy statement bi-monthly with the first such policy being announced on April 1, 2014. Bankers widely expect RBI to hold on to rates given that pressure on inflation is easing and the rupee has also been firming up.
Until the mid-90s, RBI had only two monetary policy reviews a year.
After Bimal Jalan took charge as governor in 1997, he rechristened the process as monetary policy and introduced quarterly reviews. His successor Y V Reddy introduced a mid-quarter review, which resulted in an announcement every 45 days.
A panel headed by RBI deputy governor Urjit Patel had recommended that the central bank monetary policy committee meet every two months to review rates.
“In 12 countries, the MPC meets every month, and most countries have MPC meetings at least bi-monthly,” the report said. One of the main recommendations of the panel was that the central bank target consumer prices rather than the traditional approach of focusing on wholesale prices.