MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia takes into account the opinion of experts and the government but decides independently on the key rate on the basis of internal forecasts, Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said at the press conference.

"We take into account the opinion of experts and analysts. We even hold a special macroeconomic poll of analysts that we post before the ‘week of silence.’ We hear the expert opinion of government ministers. Nevertheless, we made the decision, as stipulated by the law, independently, on the basis of our own analysis of the current situation, on the basis of the in-house forecasts and the internal risk assessment. So it was this time," Nabiullina said.

The Bank of Russia lowered the key rate by 100 base points to 20% after keeping it at 21% per annum for a long period of time.