New Delhi, July 23 -- Central banking, as is well known, is both an art and a science. It is also unique because central bankers have to drive ahead with their eyes fixed on rear-view mirrors, analysing past data to fashion monetary policy for the future.

Occasionally, the central bank needs to look away from the road behind and become a bit more circumspect about the path ahead. In April, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officially pivoted from its policy stance of inflation control to growth support, given a flattening rise in the cost of living.

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Its monetary policy committee, led by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, has boldly cut benchmark rates of interest by a fu...