Bank of Russia discusses prospects for SME financing
Preferential lending was one of the topics of the meeting between the Bank of Russia executives and representatives of business associations.
The Bank of Russia will collaborate with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Government of the Russian Federation to specify the parameters of the combined programme, so that it remains relevant amid the current monetary conditions.
The combined programme incorporates two types of support — subsidising under the 1764 Programme implemented by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development as well as preferential funding of banks by the Bank of Russia.
The SME loan portfolio grew by 28.9% in 2023, including due to incentive-based banking regulation and preferential lending programmes. ‘An important task is to target the existing preferential lending programmes of support for small and medium-sized businesses at investment projects’ — emphasised Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina.
The meeting participants also noted the importance of developing the capital market as a source of long money. Financing via loans is not always suitable when implementing investment projects, particularly in the segment of small technology companies. An alternative may be to raise capital on the stock exchange and during pre-IPO. At the early stages, crowdinvesting platforms are available for small and medium-sized businesses, and having gained experience of working with investors, they can enter IPO using support measures within the framework of the national project for the development of SMEs.
The Bank of Russia will continue the policy of risk-based regulation in order to encourage banks to more actively lend to SMEs. At the end of last year, the Bank of Russia allowed banks to classify the guarantees of a number of regional organisations as the first quality category. This allows banks to reduce the cost of making provisions for SME loans.
The meeting also discussed issues of cross-border payments and settlements using national currencies and the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia (SPFS).
The event was attended by representatives of OPORA RUSSIA, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Business Russia, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the largest banks, the Association of Banks of Russia, as well as RSMB Corporation.