Government picks three new members to join RBI's rate-setting panel

The Indian government has appointed Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya and Nagesh Kumar as new members of the central bank's rate-setting monetary policy committee, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

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

The six-member MPC, which consists of three RBI and three external members, is due to meet next between Oct. 7-9. In its August policy meeting, the MPC kept interest rates unchanged at 6.50% for a ninth straight time.

Ram Singh is the director of the Delhi School of Economics, with experience in teaching, research and publishing, while 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. (Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh and Pushkala Aripaka; Writing by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Jan Harvey)