Page 98 - RusRPTJan23

8.1.2 Loans
Following the shock the sector received after hostilities broke out, business picked up in the last months of 2022. According to the CBR’s more recent bulletin, 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 at the end of November.
“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 totalled RUB5.4 trillion (10.7%), which almost equals the result for the whole 2021 (RUB5.5 trillion, or 11.7% y/y)," the Bank of Russia said.
Unsecured consumer spending slowed down noticeably in October but was up overall by 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 (according to surveys of CIs, rates on newly issued loans rose in October by ~2 p.p.),” the regulator said.
The growth in mortgage lending, previously a driver of growth, has also slowed to 1.8% in October from 2.3% in September amid rising uncertainty for borrowers and banks, the Central Bank reported on November 21.
Mortgage loan extensions lost 13% to RUB448bn ($7.3bn) from RUB518bn ($8.4bn), according to the Bank of Russia. The aggregate mortgage portfolio of Russian lenders stood at RUB13.5 trillion ($221bn) as of the end of October.
According to November’s preliminary data, the mortgage continued to grow rapidly (+2.0% in November adjusted for securitization transactions by RUB60bn ) after +1.8% in October.
Total disbursements increased by 5% (to RUB471bn), mainly due to an increase in concessional lending, which in total for all programs increased by almost 20% (up to RUB215 from RUB182bn in October), including by 18% (up to RUB141 from RUB119bn ) under the program "Preferential mortgage".
Issuance of mortgages in the primary market increased by 26%.
The increase in demand was probably related to the supply developers discounts and lower prices for the "primary", as well as the expected completion of the program "Preferential mortgage” (then in December it was decided to extend program until 07/01/2024 with an increase in the rate to 8
98 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com