February sees positive trend for deposits
Banking sector assets grew by 0.5% in February, mainly due to retail lending expansion, supported by increased activity in the interbank lending market, reports the latest informational and analytical publication ‘Review of the Banking Sector of the Russian Federation in February 2020’.
In February, retail lending showed unsurprisingly faster growth of 1.2%, after staying at 0.8% in January, being a bit constrained by the holidays. The corporate portfolio (including loans to non-financial and financial organisations other than banks) remained mostly unchanged. Modest demand for loans might be caused by elevated uncertainty amid the coronavirus outbreak. Moreover, some major companies decided to raise funds by issuing bonds.
Individuals’ funds went up by 0.9%, balancing the seasonal outflow of ruble deposits seen in January. Corporate deposits and funds also increased by 1.1% thanks to, among other things, the inflow of funds to the corporate segment, as budget spending grew faster than tax payments.
Monthly net profit of the banking sector totalled 140 billion rubles. In January-February 2020, banks gained 337 billion rubles as profit.