New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- Strong growth and low inflation convinced the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) rate-setting panel to stay on pause in February, according to minutes of the panel's 4-6 February meeting released Friday.

"Given the present state of the economy and its outlook-buoyant growth and benign inflation-I feel the current policy rate is appropriate," Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Sanjay Malhotra said in his statement in the minutes, adding that several recent developments on the external front have provided room for greater optimism.

All six members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) backed holding the policy repo rate at 5.25%, the minutes showed. The decision follows cumulative rate cuts of 125 basis points since ...