Russian banks received a record low net profit of 500 million rubles in May, Russia's central bank chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said at the State Duma.
According to her, in January–May, banks earned a net profit of 561 billion rubles ($7.28 million).
She added that the central bank is developing a platform to assist banks in assessing the reliability of clients and plans to launch it at the end of 2021 or early in 2022.
Nabiullina also said the central bank supports the early adoption of the law on digital financial assets.
In April 2020, Russian bank profits fell to 32 billion roubles ($451 million), a six-fold drop from March.
On June 5, Nabiullina said that Russian banks have the capacity to absorb shocks but they will see a decline in profits this year, adding that credit risk posed the greatest threat to the sector.
The Russian ruble strengthened against the U.S. dollar and the euro in May. On June 1 the dollar exchange rate declined below 70 rubles for the first time since March 6.
