Russia PM wants banks' lending rate at 6pct in l/t

SOCHI, Russia, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Russian banks should reduce their lending rates to an average of 6 percent in coming years, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told an economic forum in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi on Friday.

German Gref, chief executive of the country's biggest lender, Sberbank SBER03.MM, replied that whether such a move is possible would depend on the level of inflation and of official interest rates.

Russian companies' loan rates hit a 9-month low of 14.7 percent in July, central bank data showed. [ID:nLQ53530] (Reporting by Toni Vorobyova and Gleb Bryanski; editing by Maria Kiselyova)