Financial Pulse: business activity revives amid easing restrictions
Russian regions are gradually easing their anti-coronavirus restrictions, which is boosting business activity in the economy, according to the new issue of the weekly analytical review Financial Pulse.
This said, recent data evidence that adverse secondary effects of the restrictions may worsen for companies. According to the Bank of Russia’s survey, over one-third of businesses are still experiencing a shortage of working capital. For companies with high leverage, this deficiency involves risks in terms of their future financial recovery.
Although the growth of consumer prices sped up over the past week, the balance of risks continues to shift towards disinflationary pressure. On average, a broad range of consumer goods still demonstrate near-zero growth rates, limiting an increase in consumer prices.
The number of incoming loan restructuring requests from individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises has decreased this week. However, it is possible to speak of a sustainable downward trend only with regard to the number of individuals’ requests. Banks have managed to streamline their procedures for considering loan restructuring applications. As a result, the percentage of approved requests for loan repayment holidays has risen, and the portion of actually restructured loans under the approved requests has also expanded.
