MOSCOW, April 25 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble hit a

three-week high against the dollar on Thursday, a day before the

central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates at 16%

for its third meeting in a row.

At 1039 GMT the rouble was up 0.1% against the dollar at

92.11 for its strongest since April 3.

It had gained 0.1% to trade at 98.70 versus the euro

and was unchanged against the yuan at 12.67

.

All 26 analysts polled by Reuters this week expect the Bank

of Russia to keep interest rates unchanged on Friday, with

inflation's only gradual slowdown preventing the central bank

from easing borrowing costs more quickly.

"The main intrigue, in my view, is the expected shift in

communications and the sending of other signals for a longer

period with the rate at 16%, possibly until the end of 2024,"

said Dmitry Pyanov, finance chief at VTB, Russia's

second-largest bank.

Pyanov added that the central bank could raise the average

key rate range for this year, suggesting that even higher rates

are needed to cool the economy.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's

main export, was up 0.2% at $88.15 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were higher, with the

dollar-denominated RTS index up 0.3% at 1,174.5 points

and the rouble-based MOEX Russian index 0.2% higher at

3,434.2 points.

For Russian equities guide see

For Russian treasury bonds see

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Elena Fabrichnaya

Editing by David Goodman

)