Russian banking sector sees share of past-due debt rise to 4.2% in June from 3.9%
MOSCOW. July 30 (Interfax) - The level of past-due debt in the Russian banking sector grew to 4.2% of the total loan portfolio in June from 3.9% at the end of May, the Central Bank said.
Total past-due debt amounted to 830.1 billion rubles on June 1.
The country's top twenty banks accounted for 549.1 billion rubles of this amount compared to 507 billion rubles as of June 1.
Past-due debt denominated in rubles grew to 630.1 billion rubles on July 1 from 598.9 billion rubles on June 1. The share of ruble-denominated past-dues grew to 4.5% in July from 4.3%.
Past-due debt in foreign currency rose to 200 billion rubles ($6.39 billion in the dollar equivalent) on July 1 from 183.4 billion rubles ($5.92 billion) on June 1. The share of dollar-denominated past-dues grew to 3.3% in July from 3%.
First Deputy Central Bank Chairman Gennady Melikian said in mid-July that the pace of growth in past-due loans slowed to 5.9% in June. "The growth in overdue debt is falling and that's a favorable result," he said.
The growth rates in previous months were 9.8%, 12% and, before that, about 20%, he said.
The growth rates exclude data from Sberbank . Total past-due debt, excluding Sberbank, rose to 675 billion rubles in June out of portfolios totaling 14.2 trillion rubles, he said.
Bank reserves rose 8.8% in June, the first time in months that reserves have grown faster than overdue loans, Melikian said.