Government picks three new members to join RBI's MPC

Government said on Tuesday it had appointed Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya and Nagesh Kumar as new members of the central bank's rate-setting monetary policy committee.

The three new external members have been appointed for a four-year term with immediate effect, a statement said.

The six-member MPC, which consists of three RBI and three external members, is due to meet Oct. 7-9. In its August policy meeting, the MPC kept the repo rate (INREPO=ECI), unchanged at 6.50 per cent for a ninth straight time.

The MPC is chaired by the RBI governor.

Ram Singh is the director of the Delhi School of Economics, with experience in teaching, research and publishing. Nagesh Kumar is the director of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development.

Saugata Bhattacharya is an economist specialising in economic and financial markets analysis and policy advocacy.

The term of the current external members - Ashima Goyal, Shashanka Bhide and Jayanth Varma - was due to end on Oct. 4.

The reshuffle could change a recent split view within the panel which saw two of the six members vote for a rate cut on the argument that high inflation adjusted real rates could hurt the economy's growth.

A restructured committee could also choose to take a different view, focusing on global conditions, where the slowdown concerns have prompted the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates last month.

Besides the external members, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das and his two deputies are due to exit their posts.

Governor Das' second term ends on Dec. 10, and another extension would be unprecedented.

A month later, deputy governor Michael Patra, who heads the central bank's monetary policy division, will also complete an extended term.

Another deputy governor - Rajeshwar Rao - who leads the banking regulation department is due to complete his term in early October.