Corporate loan portfolio growth accelerates in October, while retail lending – slows

October showed a slightly faster growth in corporate lending (+0.8%), according to the information and analytical material ‘On the Development of the Russian Banking Sector in January—October 2019’. Contrastingly, the monthly net growth rate of the retail loan portfolio was the lowest during the year (+0.9%).

In January—October, the inflow of household deposits more than twice exceeded the level recorded in the same period last year. However, on the back of the ruble appreciation, the proportion of household foreign-currency deposits continues to shrink (from 21.5% in early 2019 to 20.9% as of 1 November 2019).

Over the 10 months of 2019, profit before taxes in the banking sector totalled 1.7 trillion rubles (as compared to 1.2 trillion rubles in the same period last year). This year-over-year rise in the financial result is largely technical in nature due to the adjustments made by credit institutions in compliance with IFRS 9.