The reduction of the number of IPOs and the securitization market will slacken the growth rate of corporate credits to 17% in 2008, ALFA BANK said in a press release. The optimistic scenario says the market will grow by only 36% in 2007. If international markets remain «frozen» for at least six months, the liquidity squeeze will affect the growth rate of the banking sector in 2007 and 2008. As a result, assets will grow by only 39% in 2007 instead of the anticipated growth of the banking sector. The growth forecast for Russian banking assets in 2008 was downgraded to 20%, ALFA BANK’s chief economist Natalia Orlova said. The outlook for the annual volume of retail credits was revised downward, from $178 billion to $140b as of late 2008, indicating only 33% growth. The slowdown may largely affect the mortgage lending market because a hindered access to long-term financing will take a heavy toll on banks’ ability to develop those products.
Source: WWW.NOVECON.RU, October 1, 2007
