Finance ministry and RBI split now out in the open

Traditionally, the RBI governor visits the Finance minister ahead of each monetary policy meeting

The cold war between the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the latter’s decision to not cut interest rates came out in the open on Wednesday after RBI Governor Urjit Patel said that members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had refused to meet finance ministry officials for a pre-policy meeting.

"The meeting did not take place. All the MPC members declined the request of the finance ministry for that meeting," Patel said, when asked at a post-monetary policy press conference whether such meetings compromised the autonomy of the RBI.

Ahead of the second bi-monthly policy