MUMBAI: Days before the MPC meeting scheduled for Oct 7-9, govt has appointed three economists as new external members to the rate-setting panel. These members will vote alongside the three RBI members on the decision to cut interest rates.
Govt appoints external members under the revised RBI Act, which established the monetary policy framework. The new members are Ram Singh, director of the Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi; Saugata Bhattacharya, senior fellow at the Center for Policy Research; and Nagesh Kumar, director and chief executive of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development.The other three ex-officio RBI members of the MPC are governor Shaktikanta Das as chairperson, deputy governor Michael Patra and executive director Rajiv Ranjan.
The outgoing members are Ashima Goyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM; Shashanka Bhide, senior advisor at the National Council for Applied Economic Research; and Jayanth Varma, a professor at IIM, Ahmedabad. In recent meetings, two of the external members – Varma and Goyal – had voted in favour of rate cuts. However, even if all three had voted for a cut, the RBI members’ stand would prevail as the governor has the casting vote in the event of a tie.
Singh’s research focuses on contract theory, law and economics, and public economics. He has published extensively on infrastructure development, land acquisition, and liability rules. Bhattacharya, meanwhile, has over 30 years of experience in economic and financial market analysis, policy advocacy, and project finance. Kumar has been director and chief executive of ISID since May 2021.