RBI Monetary Policy Committee Meet LIVE: When, Where & How to Watch Shaktikanta Das Address

RBI MPC Meeting August 2024: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the decision of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday, August 8. Since the repo rate was last increased to 6.5% in February 2023, it has remained unchanged in the subsequent eight bi-monthly meetings. If the RBI decides to keep rates steady again, it will mark the ninth consecutive time the benchmark rate remains unchanged.

Apart from announcing MPC’s decision on the repo rate and other policy interest rates, Das will also discuss the current domestic and global economic situation.

After the policy announcement, the RBI governor will also address a press conference which will be telecast at 12:00 pm on the RBI’s X handle on Thursday.

Here is How to Watch RBI Monetary Policy Decisions LIVE Today

On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India shared a post on X to explain where and how to watch the RBI MPC meet live. Monetary Policy Statement by #RBI Governor @DasShaktikanta on August 08, 2024, at 10:00 am. Watch live at: https://youtube.com/live/WHj7vDlyr6c?feature=share

Facebook: The address will be streamed simultaneously on the Reserve Bank of India’s page.

X: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’ address to the country will also be streamed on the Reserve Bank of India’s official Twitter handle @RBI on X.

After the RBI MPC Policy Announcement

Post-policy press conference telecast at 12:00 pm on the same day at https://youtube.com/live/jzeZrfKL4_0?feature=share…

What’s Expected?

According to economists, the RBI’s monetary policy committee is expected to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent on Thursday and is unlikely to cut the key policy rate before December 2024 due to upside risks to inflation, especially in the food basket.

“Food inflation risks continue to dominate in the near term. The RBI will be in no hurry to ease monetary policy given the headroom from robust growth in the backdrop of near-term inflation risks,” said Upasna Bhardwaj, chief economist of Kotak Mahindra Bank.

India’s CPI inflation rose to a four-month high of 5.08 per cent in June 2024 on the back of higher food prices. Inflation in the food basket rose to 9.36 per cent in June, against 8.69 per cent in May. It is the latest monthly data available. The CPI inflation data for July 2024 will be released on August 12.

Aditi Nayar, chief economist, head of research and outreach at rating agency ICRA, said, “Last year’s high growth print, combined with the inflation of 4.9 per cent in Q1 FY2025, is unlikely to shift the voting pattern of the four members who voted for a status quo in the June 2024 meeting towards a change in stance or rate cut in the August 2024 meeting itself.”

The chief economist of ICRA added that she is not ruling out a stance change in October 2024, and a 25 basis point (bps) rate cut each in December 2024 and February 2025 followed by an extended pause.

This will happen if the food inflation outlook turns decidedly favourable on the back of a normal magnitude and favourable distribution of rainfall in the rest of the monsoon season, and there are no other shocks, either global or domestic, Nayar said.