Page 78 - RusRPTDec22

8.1.2 Loans
Corporate lending in Russia rose in October only in rubles, whereas in foreign currency it went down by 5.2%, or by $7.4bn. Meanwhile, corporate lending overall added 2.4%, or RUB1.3 trillion ($21bn), last month, according to files released by the regulator on Monday.
"In October corporate lending rose only in rubles (RUB1.7 trillion, +3.8%), whereas lending in foreign currency decreased notably (-$7.4bn, -5.2%) as a result of the ongoing work with loans in foreign currency, including the conversion of loans in foreign currency," the document said.
In general, corporate lending increased by RUB1.3 trillion, or by 2.4%, in October. "Such high growth rates have already been registered for the third consecutive month (+2.5% in September, +2.4% in August), whereas year-to-date growth totaled RUB5.4 trillion (+10.7%), which almost equals the result for the whole 2021 (+RUB5.5 trillion rubles, +11.7%)," the Bank of Russia said.
Unsecured consumer spending slowed down noticeably in October while consumer lending was up to +0.3% (according to preliminary data) after rising +0.9% in September.
The slowdown is most likely caused by lower demand by the population, postponing large purchases in conditions of increased uncertainty, tightening credit policy of banks, including expressed in the increase in the cost of loans
78 RUSSIA Country Report December 2022 www.intellinews.com