Govt to appoint new external MPC member by October: Reports

RBI appointment: The RBI’s monetary policy committee is going to have a new external member very soon by October. Reportedly, the government is going to appoint an external member to the monetary policy committee meeting by October.  The selection committee comprising RBI governor, Shaktikanta Das and government officials is going to recommend two candidates in the next two weeks. 
The monetary policy committee has six members including three external members. The external members are renowned economists with a strong understanding of finance and the economy.  The appointment of external members is for 4 years. The term of current external members such as Ashima Goyal, Jayanta Verma, and Shashanka Bhide is ending on October 4.

The appointment of the new external member on the committee will be happening just a few days ahead of the RBI MPC Meeting which will start on October 9. The monetary policy meeting of October will be keenly watched out as to what action RBI will take at a time when there is rising pressure from various quarters for the rate cut.

Also, the MPC of October will come after the US Fed meeting which will be happening in September and there are expectations that the US Fed will go for the rate cut in the month of September. The hints for the potential rate cuts will be given by US Fed Chair, Jerome Powell at the sought-after Jackson Hole Symposium. The global financial markets are keenly watching out for possible cues for rate cuts as the expectation is that the US Fed will go for a 25 bps rate cut in September. However, some people are speculating about a 50 bps rate cut by the US Fed in September.  The MPC of RBI in October will come after the US Fed rate cut decision in September.  The RBI MPC in October with new external members will be watched out to see what RBI does after US Fed FOMC meeting in September.