Head of Russia's Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina said the bank would soften its monetary policy slowly and gradually, bringing the key rate to 6 percent to 7 percent in the next one or two years from 8.25 at present, Reuters reported.
According to her, lower interest rates are aimed at reviving lending activity, needed to prop up economic growth.
Nabiullina also said the Russian economy will expand 1.8 percent in 2017, marking the end of the recovery from two years of economic recession.
