Lending growth is moderate in January due to long holidays
According to preliminary estimates, the growth of mortgage lending slowed down to 1.1%, which was largely associated with the long New Year holidays. Consumer lending expanded moderately (+0.9%, adjusted for problem loan write-offs and sales), whereas the corporate portfolio remained almost unchanged.
As expected, households’ funds with banks declined (-2.3%) after the surge in December (+4.6%), which is typical of these two months. Furthermore, the upward trend in time deposits became more pronounced, which was driven by rising interest rates. Concurrently, there was a considerable inflow of corporate funds (+1.8%). Government funds increased as well (+4.5%), predominantly owing to regional budgets.
The banking sector’s net profit totalled 164 billion rubles in January (return on capital — 16.5% in annualised terms), which is 47% more than in December.
More details are available in the information and analytical material Russian Banking Sector Developments in January 2022.