RBI chief calls on Jaitley before policy review

New DelhiAhead of the next monetary policy review in August first week, Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel today called on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and is believed to have discussed various macro-economic issues.

After meeting the minister, Patel met the newly appointed Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg.

RBI governor usually meets Union finance minister before the monetary policy review.

The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the RBI headed by Patel will meet on August 1-2 for the third bi- monthly policy statement for 2017-18.

Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian had earlier this month said there had been a “paradigm shift” in inflation trajectory which has been “missed by all”.

His comments were seen as an apparent reference to the decision of the MPC, which has kept the key policy rate unchanged so far this year citing pricing pressures.

Retail inflation dropped to a record low of 1.54 per cent in June and industrial production data showed that the growth in factory output slumped to 1.7 per cent in May, from 8 per cent a year ago.