Corporate lending speeds up in July while retail lending slows down
In July, corporate lending substantially accelerated (to 1.5% vs 0.4% in June). This may be prompted by businesses’ intention to raise funds before a possible increase in interest rates by banks.
Retail lending expectedly decelerated. The slowdown was most significant in mortgage lending (down to nearly 2.0% from 3.0%) as a lower number of loans was issued within the preferential mortgage lending programme after its conditions were modified, and in consumer lending (down to 1.7% from 2.0%) following the increase in macroprudential buffers.
The major inflow of funds was through the fiscal channel largely due to tax payments after which businesses’ funds somewhat reduced. Households’ funds grew moderately for the second month in a row (+0.5%): current accounts continued to rise while term deposits virtually stabilised on the back of higher interest rates.
Net profit of the banking sector went up from 204 billion rubles in June to 229 billion rubles in July as a result of the assignment of a sizeable troubled debt by a systemically important bank, among other things.
Further details are available in the information and analytical material Russian Banking Sector Developments in July 2021.