Did Russia pass financial test?

The stability of the financial system of Russia has been confirmed by the stress tests of the Central Bank of Russia and reality, the First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, Ksenia Yudayeva, said.

The Bank of Russia in the evaluation of the stability of the banking sector, using the methods of stress tests, carried out calculations on the basis of the macroeconomic scenario, involving a fall in oil prices to $40 per barrel and a decrease of 7% of GDP.

The Bank of Russia will present an updated macroeconomic forecast for the next three years in June, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank said, noting that the financial regulator does not rule out changes in the volume of regular interventions. A moratorium on repayment of Ukraine's debt to Russia of $3 billion is unlikely to have a noticeable effect on the balance of payments, Yudayeva said.

"At the same time, we will not achieve the economic growth of 4.5% by 2018 predicted by Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukaev without carrying out serious structural reforms," the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank said. 

The professor of the RANEPA Chair of Finances, Money Circulation and Credit, Yuri Yudenkov, noted that the financial system in Russia, in spite of the stabilization and strengthening of the ruble, retained certain risks. According to him, the most powerful part of the Russian financial system is its positive balance. In the future, it is necessary to organize long and cheap money for the industrialists to strengthen the economy and financial system.

The chief economist of the Institute of Stock Market and Management, Mikhail Belyaev, agreed that the banking system cannot be sustained apart from the general state of the economy. According to him, the Russian financial system has become much more cautious in terms of lending to consumers since the end of last year. "If earlier it was quite an aggressive policy, consumer lending was regarded as one of the outputs to accommodate the bank's assets and loans were given on fairly mild conditions, but now, after it has become clear that people are in a difficult situation, the labor market has become tighter and inflation had influenced their purchasing power, banks have switched to a more restrained policy, managing to rebuild themselves," the expert said.