The banking sector in Russia, according to the World Bank, remains weak despite recent moves to rescue larger banks by the central bank. The country’s banking industry has a higher rate of problem loans compared to other countries, the World Bank said in a report today. In addition, the equity ratio is comparatively low.
The Russian Central Bank has closed hundreds of financial institutions in recent years and has saved several major billion-dollar financial institutions. As of April 1, the top five banks accounted for 57 percent of the industry’s profits. State-owned banks had 62 percent of total assets.
Economic growth in Russia described the World Bank as moderate. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to slow to 1.2 percent this year from 2.3 percent in 2018. For 2020 and 2021, the World Bank expects GDP growth of 1.8 percent each.
