Mumbai, Aug. 21 -- The Reserve Bank of India's six-member monetary policy committee in August unanimously decided to keep therepo rate unchanged at 5.5% despite softer inflation. Minutes of the meeting released by RBI on Wednesday showed that US President Donald Trump's tariffs played a key role in this decision.

Would the panel have voted differently had the government's proposed changes to the goods and services tax structure been announced earlier? On Thursday, a group of ministers accepted the Centre's proposal toscrap the 12% and 28% tax slabs, and consolidate GST into two primary slabs of 5% and 18%-a move that's expected to lower prices for consumers.

Saugata Bhattacharya, an external member on RBI's rate-setting panel, spoke wit...