Russian banks earned 140 billion rubles from the weakening of the ruble in November

According to data from the Bank of Russia, in November the profit of the banking sector increased by 1.5 times, to 518 billion rubles, mainly due to the revaluation of the currency by 140 billion rubles against a background of sharp weakening of the ruble.

• In November, the ruble lost almost 10% against the dollar following large-scale US sanctions against 50 second-tier Russian banks. On November 27, the dollar exchange rate on the Forex currency market exceeded 114 rubles, getting very close to 115 rubles. Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that the situation is under control.

In October, such revaluation amounted to 23 billion rubles against the background of a 5% weakening of the ruble against the dollar, and the profit of the banking sector reached 348 billion rubles.

In 11 months, the sector’s profit amounted to 3.6 trillion rubles, a figure higher than the record in 2023 (3.3 trillion rubles). The result obtained is in line with the forecasts of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for 2024: the Bank of Russia expected banks to earn between 3.5 and 3.8 trillion rubles.

According to the Bank of Russia, corporate lending slowed to 0.8% in November from 2.3% in October due to tight monetary policy. The business portfolio increased in absolute value by 0.7 trillion rubles, 2.8 times less than in October (1.9 trillion rubles), but corresponds to the historical average for the 2018-2021 period. Mortgage lending slowed to 0.4% in November from 0.7% in October, and consumer loan growth was “close to zero.”