Cbanker: Deposits with Russian banks rise by 1.6% in April 1–10

MOSCOW, Apr 18 (PRIME) -- Deposits with Russian banks grew by 1.6% from April 1 through April 10 supported by a higher key rate and a consequent increase of deposit rates by banks, Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said on Monday during a session of the State Duma, the Russian parliament’s lower chamber.

“We see that deposits grew by 1.6% in the first 10 days of April,” she said.

It is possible that the Russian banks will issue up to 2 trillion rubles of mortgage loans under the government’s cheap loan programs in 2022 as the programs were adapted to the current situation, Nabiullina said.

The banking system is stable and is capable of withstanding serious blows, but now the producing sector of the economy will start suffering from the anti-Russian sanctions, which have already hurt the financial sector. The Russian economy is now going through a difficult time of structural changes, she said.

“We will enter an active period of this structural change in the second quarter or at the beginning of the third one, many companies will start looking for new business models,” she said.

The regulator will not use any means to curb inflation because it will prevent business from adapting to the situation. Inflation will remain above the 4% target for some time because of limited supply, not because of high demand, and the economy will have to adapt to that. But the authority also plans to conduct a sensible monetary policy to return inflation to the target in 2024, she said.

The regulator is also considering making the mechanism of mandatory sales of 80% of the foreign currency revenue of exporters more flexible.

Expansion of the deposit insurance system is also possible, but would be done for deposits of medium sized companies and non-profit companies, not for the household deposits, she said.

(80.0437 rubles – U.S. $1)

End