Page 91 - RusRPTMay21

8.1.2 Loans
RUB loans enjoyed the second-highest MoM buildup in the last 12 months, of 1.8% (behind only the 1.9% from October 2020). Retail loans were again in the lead, with 2.2% monthly growth vs. 1.5% for corporate lending.
In March, the corporate portfolio grew by RUB210bn (+ 0.5%), which is slightly lower than growth in February (+ 0.8%), including due to the repayment of a number of large short-term loans. More than half of the increase (about RUB120bn) was accounted for repo deals with financial institutions.
Significant lending to housing developers remains the most important growth factor - about RUB100bn in March against RUB90bn in February. Since the government introduced the escrow account system for pre-sales of residential real estate projects developer has been forced to raise all the funding needed to complete a project from banks at the start of the project, whereas previously they would fund the construction from revenues earned from pre-sales as they go.
Mortgages accelerated growth again after a seasonal decline earlier in the year. According to polls the largest banks, in March the growth was 2.2% compared to 1.9% in February and 0.9% in January.
At the same time, the volume of loans within the framework of the “Preferential mortgage 6.5%” program increased by one quarter compared to February, up to RUB135bn, but still remains below the peak values autumn 2020 of almost
91 RUSSIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com