In April household deposits growth picks up in rubles and slows down in dollars

In January—April 2019, the aggregate portfolio of banking sector loans to households and non-financial organisations increased by 3.7%, according to the information and analytical material ‘Review of the Banking Sector of the Russian Federation in January—April 2019’. Over four months, the retail portfolio grew by 6.4% and the corporate portfolio — by 2.5%.

The ruble strengthening had a considerable impact on the dynamics of banking sector readings in January—April this year.

In April, firms continued to replace their FX borrowings (which shrank by 1.5% in dollar terms) with ruble-denominated loans (which were up by 0.8%). Over the same month, the inflow of household ruble deposits accelerated to 2.6%, whereas growth in FX deposits slowed down to 0.5%. Due to the improved appeal of ruble deposits, their proportion in total household deposits grew to 78.9% compared to 78.5% at the beginning of this year.