Since several uncertainties, especially on the fiscal and external fronts, persist it is important to be vigilant, RBI governor Urjit Patel said at the meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC). He added that the recent upturn in crude oil prices has emerged as a cause of concern. “Hence, I vote for status quo in the policy rate, while maintaining the stance as neutral; this allows us the flexibility to respond appropriately to incoming data,” Patel said, according to the minutes of the MPC, which voted 5-1 to keep the policy rates unchanged at 6%. Patel said that inflation expectations of households 0for both three-month ahead and one-year ahead periods in the latest round of the central bank’s survey moved up.