New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) discussion paper (DP) on its monetary policy framework, released last Thursday as part of a mandated five-yearly review, poses four key questions on which the central bank has sought feedback.

First, should monetary policy target headline inflation, as presently mandated under the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) regime introduced in 2016, or core inflation (i.e., headline inflation stripped of volatile elements like food and fuel)?

The answer to that is straightforward and RBI's DP also seems to veer towards that conclusion; namely, that for a country like India, where food constitutes a significant share of the consumption basket (close to 46%) for a large number, it is meaning...