New Delhi, April 8 -- From 6-8 April, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that is responsible for setting the policy interest rate-repo rate-has doubtless burnt the proverbial midnight oil deliberating on the growth-inflation trade-off. As expected, it has concluded, like most central banks, that it is best to mark time.

The ceasefire in the West Asia conflict, announced just a little over an hour before US President Donald Trump's deadline to "wipe out an entire civilisation" was to end (and, coincidently, just hours before RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra's statement), brings only a temporary reprieve (of a fortnight).

It is far from clear whether the ceasefire will hold. More importantly, whether ...