About MPC

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the RBI which is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain inflation within the specified target level.
• The 2016 amendment of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 provides for a statutory and institutionalised framework for the MPC.

• The MPC has six members
  • RBI Governor (Chairperson), RBI Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy, one official nominated by the RBI Board and remaining 3 members would represent the Government. 

• The MPC makes decisions based on majority vote. In case of a tie, the RBI governor will have a second or casting vote. 

Why in News?

• • The Monetary Policy Committee has voted unanimously to increase the repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90% in a bid to slow inflation that it estimates will average 7.5% in the current April-June quarter.
  • The MPC also decided to remain focused on the withdrawal of accommodation which had been provided to support the COVID-19 hit economy, to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth.
  • Inflation has steeply increased much beyond the upper tolerance level. A large part of the rise in inflation is primarily attributed to a series of supply shocks linked to the war in Ukraine. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was now projected by the RBI at 6.7% in 2022-23.

• Under the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework, RBI aims to contain CPI based inflation within 4 percent with a band of (+/-) 2 percent.

• The MPC retained its forecast for real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 7.2%. 

Related information

Repo Rate & Reverse Repo Rate

• Repo rate is the rate of interest which is applied by RBI to commercial banks when the latter borrows from RBI. Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from commercial banks by lending securities. 
• Both the Repo rate and Reverse Repo rate are used to control inflation and money supply in the economy.
• In the event of rising inflation, the RBI increases the repo rate which will act as a disincentive for banks to borrow from the central bank.
• This ultimately reduces the money supply in the economy and thus helps in arresting inflation. Similarly, if it wants to make it cheaper for banks to borrow money, it reduces the repo rate.

Monetary policy stance

• The Central Banks use different terms to indicate its monetary policy stance on deciding policy rates like repo rate.
• “Accommodative” indicates that the central bank is telling the market to expect a rate cut anytime, “neutral” means that RBI could either increase or reduce repo rates as per liquidity conditions, “calibrated tightening” means that a cut in the repo rate is unlikely in the current rate cycle.

Reference

https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/rbi-increases-repo-rate-by-50-basis-points/article65506344.ece