RBI monetary policy 2019: Meet the 6 MPC members who voted in favour of rate cut

RBI monetary policy 2019: In the second bi-monthly Monetary Policy announcement for FY20, all the members of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) including Dr Chetan Ghate, Dr Pami Dua, Dr Ravindra H. Dholakia, Dr Michael Debabrata Patra, Dr Viral V. Acharya along with governor Shaktikanta Das voted in favour of 0.25 pc policy rate cut. The members unanimously decided to change the stance of monetary policy from neutral to accommodative. They noted that growth impulses have weakened significantly as reflected in a further widening of the output gap compared to the April 2019 policy. 

According to the RBI statement, because of the headline inflation trajectory remaining below the target, the MPC concluded that there is scope to accommodate growth concerns by supporting efforts to boost aggregate demand, and in particular, reinvigorate private investment activity.

The minutes of the MPC’s meeting will be published by June 20, 2019, while the next meeting of the MPC is scheduled during August 5 to 7, 2019.

Notably, in the first Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2019-20 announced on April 4, 2019, the MPC members including Dr Pami Dua, Dr Ravindra H. Dholakia, Dr Michael Debabrata Patra along with Governor Shaktikanta Das had voted in favour of the decision to reduce the policy repo rate by 25 basis points. While Dr Chetan Ghate and Dr Viral V Acharya had voted to keep the policy rate unchanged. 

Further, Dr Chetan Ghate, Dr Pami Dua, Dr Michael Debabrata Patra, Dr Viral V. Acharya and Governor Shaktikanta Das voted in favour of the decision to maintain the neutral stance of monetary policy, while Dr Ravindra H Dholakia had voted to change the stance from neutral to accommodative.