Sberbank not actively developing lending in yuan due to insufficient liquidity in the currency

MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) - Sberbank is not currently developing corporate lending in yuan due to insufficient available liquidity in this currency, and is focusing on ruble loans, the leading Russian lender's vice president and finance director, Taras Skvortsov said.

"For yuan in general the situation did not change for the better in the third quarter. We see that all the growth of corporate clients' loan portfolio in both the third quarter and the first nine months of 2023 was generated 100% by the ruble business, meaning we are not currently developing an active business in foreign currencies, including yuan," Skvortsov said in a conference call on Thursday.

"This is because, foremost, there is not enough available liquidity in yuan on the Russian market today that could be used to develop lending on a stable basis. In our view, this situation applies to the sector as a whole, not just Sber. One shouldn't expect the situation to change until this available liquidity appears. We will focus specifically on the ruble business," Skvortsov said.

He said this situation is having a positive impact on interest income and the net interest margin. "This is one of the reasons why our interest margin increased in the third quarter as well, and why we're giving such a positive forecast for the end of this year," Skvortsov said.

It was reported earlier that Sberbank's net interest margin to IFRS rose to 6.0% in the third quarter of 2023 amid rising interest rates in the economy and an improvement in the balance sheet structure. The bank raised its net interest margin forecast for 2023 to over 5.8% from 5.5%.

Sberbank's corporate loan portfolio to IFRS grew by 21.9% in the first nine months of 2023, including 9.2% in the third quarter, to 22.7 trillion rubles.