Russian banks saw aggregate profits triple to RUB788 billion (USD13 billion) in the 11-month period from January to November 2016 from RUB264 billion (USD4.35 billion) in the corresponding period of the previous year, the Central Bank said on December 12, 2016.

Bank provisioning on possible losses totaled RUB464 billion (USD7.65 billion) in the eleven months of 2016, 58 percent less than what was transferred in the 11-month period from January to November 2015.

The banking sector’s profits in November totaled RUB74 billion (USD1.22 billion), against RUB79 billion (USD1.30 billion) in October.

The Central Bank expects that Russian banks will garner RUB800 to 900 billion (USD13.19 to USD14.84 billion) in profit this year and allocate around RUB500 to 600 billion (USD8.25 to USD9.89 billion) to reserves.

In 2015, the banking sector had RUB192 billion (USD3.17 billion) in total profits as a result of the banks’ having to transfer funds for provisioning. The banks had to confront the problem of the worsening quality of their loan portfolios to the tune of RUB1.35 trillion (USD20 billion).

Combined lending by Russian banks to various sectors of the country’s economy (enterprises and households) rose 0.8 percent in November to RUB42.2 trillion (USD700 billion), the Central Bank said.

Excluding the foreign currency exchange effect, lending was virtually unchanged. Lending to non-financial corporate borrowers was up 0.9 percent in November (down 0.1 percent, excluding the foreign currency exchange effect) to RUB31.4 trillion (USD520 billion) and retail lending rose 0.4 percent (up 0.4 percent) to RUB10.8 trillion (USD180 billion).

Corporate deposits at Russian banks rose 1.9 percent to RUB24.430 trillion (USD400 billion) in November in nominal terms and retail deposits were up 1.3 percent to RUB23.674 trillion (USD390 billion).

It is the first time that corporate deposits have increased in six months. In October, corporate deposits declined 1.4 percent compared with a 0.2-percent increase for retail deposits.

Excluding the foreign currency exchange effect, deposits increased 0.5 percent for both corporate clients and retail operators.

Corporate deposits declined 9.7 percent in the 11-month period from January to November (down 4.9 percent, excluding the foreign currency exchange effect), and retail deposits grew 2.0 percent (up 5.2 percent).

Russia’s trade surplus under the balance-of-payments method narrowed to USD6.604 billion in October 2016, 10.6 percent less than the trade surplus of USD7.383 billion registered in September, the Central Bank reported.

Exports in October totaled USD24.904 billion, down 2.5 percent compared to September when they totaled USD25.546 billion. Imports totaled USD18.3 billion, up 0.8 percent compared to September when they stood at USD18.163 billion.

Russia’s trade surplus in the 10-month period from January to October 2016 totaled USD69.704 billion, down 45.7 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2015 when it stood at USD128.264 billion.

Exports in the 10 months of 2016 fell by 21.9 percent year-on-year to USD224.413 billion from USD287.322 billion registered in the prior year. Imports fell by 2.7 percent to USD154.709 billion from USD159.058 billion seen in the corresponding period of the previous year.