Commercial banks reported a total net profit of 1.059 billion lari ($342 million) from January to June compared to a loss of 477 million lari.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has cried foul over the $11 billion route, calling it a sell-out to the Kremlin leader, though his rhetoric has calmed of late.

The move is expected to damage the country's reputation in the West and jeopardise an already fragile economic recovery.

The bank widened the interest rate corridor to plus/minus 2 percentage points from plus/minus 1 percentage points.