New Delhi, April 22 -- As the West Asia war raged and supply shocks rippled across the globe, the central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) chose to wait and watch as they kept the repo rate unchanged, minutes of the meeting released on Wednesday showed.

The six-member rate-setting panel, which met from 6 to 8 April, decided to hold the repo rate at 5.25%. In 2025, the RBI had cumulatively cut the repo rate-the rate at which it lends short-term funds to banks-by 125 basis points (bps), with the last cut of 25 bps in December.

The minutes showed that while members expect inflation to rise further, it would be primarily driven by supply shocks, something that monetary policy has limited control over.

Governor Sanjay Malhotra said th...