April 26 Reuters The Russian rouble firmed to a onemonth high past 92 to the dollar on Friday after the central bank held interest rates at 16, as expected, and slightly worsened Russia39;s inflation outlook.

By 1048 GMT, the rouble was 0.1 stronger against the dollar at 91.86 , its strongest since March 27.

All 26 analysts polled by Reuters this week expect the Bank of Russia to keep interest rates unchanged, with the gradual slowdown of inflation preventing the central bank from easing borrowing costs more quickly.

The bank said inflation would return to its 4 target more slowly than previously forecast.

The rouble had gained 0.2 to trade at 98.49 versus the euro and shed 0.2 against the yuan to 12.62 .

Brent crude oil , a global benchmark for Russia39;s main export, was up 0.6 at 89.53 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were higher.

The dollardenominated RTS index was up 0.2 to 1,180.8 points. The roublebased MOEX Russian index was 0.1 higher at 3,443.5 points.

Reporting by Alexander Marrow; editing by Miral Fahmy and Alex Richardson

Source Reuters