MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia is ready to keep the key rate at high levels for as long as necessary to stabilize inflation at the target level, head of the regulator, Elvira Nabiullina, told a press conference following a meeting of the board of directors of the regulator.

"We are ready to keep the key rate at high levels for as long as it takes for inflation to return to its target on a sustainable basis," she said.

As Nabiullina stressed, the decisions taken last year to increase the key rate made it possible to significantly reduce persistent inflationary pressure.