Corporate lending growth slows, while mortgage lending is up in September
The increase in banks’ claims on businesses (including bonds) decelerated from 1.3% in August to 0.7% in September, while the annual growth rate remained unchanged at 13.3%.
According to preliminary data, households’ outstanding mortgages were up by 1.4% in September, which is nearly three times higher than 0.5% in August. Borrowers were seeking to sign contracts before the tightening of the Family Mortgage programme terms from 1 October 2026. As a result, the share of government subsidised mortgages increased from 56% in August to 70% in September. The annual growth rate of the portfolio equalled 10.8% vs 10.2% in the previous month.
By contrast, the expansion in consumer lending decelerated from 1.7% in August to 0.9% in September, with new cash and credit card loans both decreasing. In annualised terms, the portfolio was up by 5.2% (vs +3.9% in August).
The growth rate of households’ funds with banks barely changed (-0.1% in September vs −0.2% in August), while that of legal entities’ funds dropped by a moderate 0.4% (vs +1.9% in the previous month, when the increase in funds was strong mostly among oil and gas producers and energy companies).
The banking sector’s net profit declined by 5.9% in September to ₽414 billion, which was attributed to a number of factors, including lower dividends from subsidiaries and losses from securities transactions.
More details are available in the information and analytical material Russian Banking Sector Development in September 2026.