MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia will hold an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors on the key rate on May 26, the regulator said in a statement on Wednesday.

"On Thursday, May 26, 2022, a meeting of the board of directors of the Bank of Russia focusing on the key rate level will take place. The press release on the decision of the board of directors will be published at 10:30 am Moscow time," the statement said.

Earlier, Deputy Central Bank Governor Alexey Zabotkin said that the current inflation trends, the current rate of price growth was slowing down notably, faster than in 2015, adding that the regulator saw some scope for further reduction of the key rate in 2022.

The Bank of Russia lowered the key rate by 3 percentage points to 14% per annum on April 29, saying that price and financial stability risks were no longer on the rise. The regulator’s monetary policy will take into account the need for a structural transformation of the economy and will ensure a return of inflation to target in 2024, the Central Bank noted, adding that it saw room for key rate reduction in 2022. Previously the Bank of Russia reduced the key rate by 3 percentage points as well to 17% on April 8 after sharply raising it from 9.5% to 20% on February 28.

The next planned meeting was scheduled for June 10.