Government Appoints Three New External Members To RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee

The government has reconstituted the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) by appointing economists Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya, and Nagesh Kumar. They will join the six-member panel for four years, succeeding Ashima Goyal, Jayanth Varma, and Shashank Bhide.

Professor Nagesh Kumar is the Director and CEO of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID) in New Delhi. From 2009 to 2021, he held senior positions in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), including Chief Economist and Director. Prof. Nagesh previously served as Director-General of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) from 2002 to 2009. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and has advised a number of international organisations.

Saugata Bhattacharya is an economist with over three decades of experience in economic and financial market analysis, policy advocacy, and project finance. He was Chief Economist and Executive Vice President of Axis Bank before becoming a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR). He has also worked with IDFC’s Policy Advisory Group.