Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das met with Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Wednesday, signaling preparations for the upcoming review meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The meeting, which took place about a fortnight before the MPC review, is seen as crucial for setting the tone for the first MPC meeting of the upcoming financial year 2024-25.
In a statement issued by the Finance Minister’s office on ‘X’ post, it was confirmed that Shaktikanta Das paid a courtesy call on Nirmala Sitharaman. The upcoming MPC meeting, scheduled between April 3 and 5, will be the first of the new financial year.
Economic experts anticipate that the MPC meeting will present estimates on inflation and the economic growth scenario for the fiscal year 2024-25, starting from April 1, 2024. In its last policy meeting in February, the RBI had estimated the economic growth rate at seven percent and the inflation rate at 4.5 percent for the upcoming financial year.
Recent data indicates that the pressure of food prices remains a challenge in swiftly bringing inflation down to the Reserve Bank’s target of four percent. However, retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has shown a decline since December, standing at 5.09 percent in February.
