MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. The dollar exchange rate in the Russian interbank market moved to the negative territory as it was down by almost 2% following the Central Bank’s decision to cut the key rate to 17% per annum, according to trading data.

As of 1:27 p.m. Moscow time (10:27 a.m. GMT) the dollar exchange rate was up by 0.57% at 85.246 rubles. By 2:18 p.m. Moscow time (11:18 a.m. GMT) the dollar exchange rate had moved to the negative territory as it traded at 83.25 rubles (-1.78%) following the regulator’s key rate reduction while the euro was down by 0.78% in the Russian interbank market at 98.37 rubles.

The Bank of Russia has lowered the key interest rate for the third consecutive time, this time by 1 percentage point, bringing it down to 17% per annum. The regulator intends to maintain such a level of monetary policy strictness as necessary to bring inflation back to target by 2026, with further decisions on the key rate to depend on the sustainability of the inflation slowdown and the dynamics of inflation expectations.