Page 65 - RusRPTAug19

last year, growth was lower: 2.5%, excluding currency revaluation effects, Vedomosti reported.
The largest increase was in the segment of deposits from RUB1mn– RUB1.4mn, which was up by 5.5% year-on-year in value terms and by 5.4% in terms of the number of accounts opened. Deposit accounts make up 12.3% in the deposit structure.
The largest share of deposit sizes (36.8%) is in the amounts of RUB100,000 - RUB1mn. This range increased by 3.9% in total and 3.1% in the number of accounts. Savings of more than RUB3mn increased by 0.4% in total and by 4.4% in the number of accounts to make up 32.1% of deposits.
At the end of last year, banks were forced to raise rates on deposits against the background of volatility in the exchange rate and inflation expectations in anticipation of the increase in the VAT rate, Stanislav Duzhinsky, an analyst with Home Credit Bank told Vedomosti.
However, in January-June of this year, deposit rates did not grow. According to the DIA, the average interest rates on annual ruble deposits of RUB1mn remained at the same level of 7.1%.
The reasons for the low growth rate of deposits is the continuing decline in real disposable incomes of the population and the low savings rate, Duzhinsky said. There was a rapid growth in unsecured retail loans in May after a decline in real incomes in 2015–2017.
Another factor driving up the money in deposits is that although real incomes are falling, nominal salaries are rising, which make up 60% of household incomes.
65 RUSSIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com