RBI to announce its first bi-monthly monetary policy for the new fiscal 2018-19

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will today announce its first bi-monthly monetary policy for the new fiscal 2018-19. The Monetary Policy Committee, headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, started its 2-day meeting in Mumbai yesterday, amid little hopes of a cut in the key policy rate due to hardening global crude oil prices. This would also be the first monetary policy announcement after the Budget.

RBI has maintained status-quo on the key short-term borrowing rate or repo rate in its last three policy meets. The benchmark lending rate was reduced by 0.25 percentage points to 6 percent last August, bringing it to a 6-year



low.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, began its 2-day meeting yesterday amid little hope of the cut in the key policy rate because of hardening global crude oil prices. 

Experts said they expect the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to maintain status quo as it awaits clarity on monsoon, sustainability of high crude oil prices post the winter squeeze and global financial conditions. 

In its last meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had kept the policy rate stable at 6 percent with a neutral stance.