India, Feb. 21 -- Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra voted for the status quo in the key interest rate earlier this month, saying the current policy rate was appropriate, given the buoyant economic growth and benign inflation, according to the MPC meeting minutes released on Friday. The Reserve Bank kept the short-term lending rate (repo) unchanged at 5.25 per cent after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held from February 4 to 6.

The governor and the other five members of the MPC had voted to keep the repo rate unchanged.

According to the minutes, Malhotra argued that India's macroeconomic fundamentals, over the medium-term, including the external sector, remain healthy and robust.

"Given the present state of the economy ...