Overdue loans at Russian banks stabilize at 6.5% - Central Bank
MOSCOW. Oct 22 (Interfax) - The share of overdue loans at Russian banks has stabilized at 6.5% of the overall loan portfolios, the head of the Central Bank's department of financial market operations, Sergei Shvetsov, said in Moscow on Friday at a forum on ruble settlements.
"According to our forecast, there will be no further growth," he said.
"The banks themselves are able to cope with the overdue debt," he said.
Central Bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev said at the end of September that so far no steady decline in the level of overdue loans at Russian banks has been detected. "The level of overdue debt on bank loans has stabilized, but so far no steady trend toward decline has been seen," he said.
Overdue retail loans declined to 7.49% of the portfolio as of September 1 from 7.52% as of August 1, mainly due to an increase in the overall portfolio.
The share of overdue loans to corporates also declined in August, to 6.15% as of September 1 from 6.21% a month earlier.