In our opinion, this indicates that there is a need for the gradual ending of the anti-crisis program and the development of more targeted preferential programmes. Consumer lending during the pandemic grew at a weaker rate than before that. However, it has now accelerated again and is growing faster than the recovery of households’ income. Thus, we consider it important to monitor risks in order to prevent overheating and dangerous levels of households’ debt burden. The situation with funding is generally calm. The total inflow of customer funds in 2020 was higher than in 2019. But it is obvious that as far as retail and retail liabilities are concerned, the situation is beneficial for the banks. The growth of household deposits in the past year nearly halved compared to 2019. This is the result of an outflow in the spring months, when people, due to the uncertainty of the situation, withdrew and transferred money into cash. It was also due to a steady growth in demand for alternative investments (such as real estate, stock assets) on the back of decreasing deposit rates. In this regard, people can count, and they are right: the weighted average interest rate on ruble deposits dropped at the beginning of last year from 5.5% to 4.2% at the end of the year and remained at this level. We have only just seen a slight rise in rates. The maximum interest rate on deposits at the 10 largest banks is now somewhere close to 5% (4.93%).
It allowed banks to gradually (those without a business model yet) exit the market in a civilized manner. However, some did find their business model. Indeed, we believe that over half of banks with a basic license have viable business strategies. But nevertheless, we are ready to look further and enter into a dialogue with you. We are also going to discuss the topic of ecosystems in detail at the International Financial Congress. So far, we have published one report that deals with general approaches to ecosystems, but we are now preparing a second one, which will deal specifically with proposals for changing banking regulation and will refer to those banks that are developing ecosystems. Because in our opinion this requires that we take into account all the nuances associated with the risks linked with customer relationships. In conclusion, I would like to say that, in our opinion, bank financing remains and will remain the primary way of raising debt in Russia for many years to come. We are interested in the banking sector enjoying long-term sustainability and profitability. We want banks to be able to meet the needs of the economy in any situation. In the crisis we underwent last year, we saw that banks are able to do so. And in periods of growth as there is now. I wish you every success. Thank you for your attention! 5/5  BIS central bankers' speeches