The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, started its 2-day meeting today in Mumbai amid little hope of cut in the key policy rate because of hardening global crude oil prices.  

RBI will tomorrow make public the resolution of the MPC on its first bi-monthly monetary policy for the new fiscal, 2018-19, which commenced on April 1.

Reserve Bank of India has maintained a status-quo on the key short-term borrowing rate (repo) in its last three policy meets. The benchmark lending rate was reduced by 0.25 percentage points to 6 per cent last August, bringing it to a 6-year low.

The six-member committee is meeting against the backdrop of government's assertion that both the fiscal deficit as well as the revenue shortfall in 2017-18 will be lower than the upwardly revised estimates given in the Union Budget.

Experts said the central bank will have to do a tightrope walk as globally interest rates are inching upwards. 

They said, RBI has to take into consideration the rise in crude oil prices which temporarily touched 70 US Dollars per barrel.