RBI Governor D. Subbarao will now be directly in charge of the monetary policy department, which was under Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, who has retired.
The Monetary Policy Department looks after policy issues, including interest rate. The third quarter review of monetary policy is scheduled to be announced on January 29.
The RBI Governor in the last policy review had indicated that there could be softening of policy rate in the January policy. Gokarn’s three-year term had ended in November 2012, but the government had given him one—month extension which expired on December 31.