RBI to hold additional Monetary Policy Committee meeting on November 3

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will hold an additional meeting of its rate-setting panel - Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) - on November 3, the central bank informed on Friday. It has, however, not disclosed the agenda. 

In a statement, the RBI said: "Under the provisions of Section 45ZN of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act 1934, read along with the Gazette notifications S.O.2215(E) dated June 27, 2016 and S.O.1422(E) dated March 31, 2021, and the Regulation 7 of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and Monetary Policy Process Regulation, 2016, an additional meeting of the MPC is being scheduled on November 3, 2022." 

The last meeting was held from 28 to 30 September, following which the repo rate was revised to 5.9 per cent. The next meeting was slated to be held for the last time this calendar year on December 5-7.

RBI's October Bulletin

The central bank has been fighting to contain inflation, which has been above the tolerance limit of the RBI. In September, the retail inflation came in at 7.4 per cent but wholesale numbers eased to 10.7 per cent as against 12.41 per cent in August.
In its monthly bulletin for October, the RBI said that the headline inflation is set to ease from its September high on the back of easing momentum and favourable base effects. It noted that despite challenges and geopolitical hurdles, India is poised to consolidate and accelerate the economic recovery in the remaining months of 2022.
In its bulletin, the central bank also said the fight against inflation will be 'dogged and prolonged' and that the monetary policy remains focussed on realigning inflation with the target and this may involve two milestones – first, bringing it within the tolerance band and second, lowering it to around its mid-point.
This trajectory will likely be gradual in view of the repeated shocks to which inflation has been subjected by both epidemiological and geopolitical causes.
 "The fight against inflation will be dogged and prolonged, given the long and variable lags with which monetary policy operates, and fraught with uncertainties. Yet, if we succeed, we will entrench India’s prospects as one of the fastest-growing economies of the world enjoying a negative inflation differential with the rest of the world," the bulletin said.