Ruble weakening to have limited impact on Russian banks - S&P
MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The effect of a weakening ruble on Russian banks will be limited, Standard & Poor's chief analyst Sergei Voronenko told the press on Thursday.
"The exchange rate will continue to confirm its volatile structure, [and] the effect on the financial indicators of Russian banks will be limited," Voronenko said. The rate, as a volatile market instrument, will be fluctuating because of the structure of the Russian economy, he said.
The view at S&P is that the influence of the ruble exchange rate slippage that has already occurred has been limited due to a relatively low proportion of forex on banks' balance sheets. "If we look at the structure of assets and liabilities, the volume of forex deposits in liabilities is roughly 20%, [and] the volume of forex credits is also roughly 20%," Voronenko said.
Since 2008, many Russian banks have revised their policies for extending forex credits to corporate borrowers, he said. "In general, these are exporters with forex revenue," he said.
Further ruble exchange rate change will depend on the monetary policy measures taken by the Central Bank, he said.