The Reserve Bank of India postponed its monetary policy committee’s meeting by a day to now begin on Tuesday, February 8, as Maharashtra declared Monday a public holiday to mourn the death of renowned singer and Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, the central bank said. RBI’s MPC committee is now scheduled to meet from February 8 to February 10 to discuss the key rate-setting policy. The outcome of this meeting will now be announced on Thursday i.e. February 11.
“With February 7, 2022 being declared a public holiday by the Government of Maharashtra under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 as a mark of respect to Bharat Ratna Ku. Lata Mangeshkar, the MPC meeting has been rescheduled to February 8-10, 2022,” RBI said in a statement Sunday. The MPC, a six-member committee of the central bank, was originally scheduled to meet from Monday to Wednesday i.e. February 7 to February 9.
In Maharashtra, banks and the foreign exchange, bond and currency markets will be closed on Monday following the state government’s announcement of a public holiday. “There will be no transactions and settlements in Government securities (primary and secondary), foreign exchange, money markets and Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives on February 7, 2022. Settlement of all outstanding transactions will accordingly get postponed to the next working day i.e., February 8, 2022,” RBI said in a separate statement.
The central bank is not expected to announce a hike of reverse repo rates in the upcoming meeting, according to a Reuters poll, and will wait for at least a few more months before it joins other central banks in raising interest rates. The US Federal Reserve earlier announced monetary policy tightening and said it could raise interest rates as early as March. Respondents in a February 2-4 Reuters poll were closely split on the timing of the next interest rate rise, with slightly more than half, 17 of 32, expecting 25 basis point rise to 4.25% in April, Reuters reported.
In December, when the last RBI MPC meeting was held, the central bank continued to keep an accommodative stance in view of the omicron COVID-19 variant. RBI has kept its benchmark interest rate at 4% from March, 2020.
The nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, who has been one of India’s most respected and loved singers, passed away on Sunday in a Mumbai hospital due to multi organ failure. She was 92.
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