Moscow--Russia's central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate by 1.5 percentage points to 12.5 percent, in a bid to lift the economy out of recession.
The economy had contracted by 2.2 percent in the first three months, hit by a collapse in crude prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.
Thursday's rate cut is the third this year following an emergency hike by a massive 6.5 percentage points in December to a prohibitive 17 percent as the bank sought then to stop a sharp depreciation of the Russian currency.
But the central bank says that inflation risks have now receded, and that there are now "persistent risks of considerable economy cooling".
It added that it "will be ready to continue cutting the key rate" as it expects consumer prices to continue easing.
The ruble was trading at around 51.8 to the dollar on Thursday afternoon several hours after the announcement, after opening at 51.4.
AFP
