The Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel, is expected to announce a rate cut today. A sharp moderation in retail inflation over the past few months has brightened hopes for further monetary policy easing from the central bank, which changed its stance to neutral from accommodative at the start of the year. Forty of 56 economists polled by Reuters predicted the RBI cutting its repo rate by a quarter percentage point to 6 per cent on Wednesday. Two respondents said the central bank would cut the rate by 50 basis points. The RBI is expected to announce its decision at 2:30 pm today.