The portfolio of SME loans declined by nearly 9% to Rub 4.5 tln (down 5% in 2015) in 2016. These are preliminary results of a survey conducted in the Russian SME lending market by Russian rating agency RAEX (Expert RA).
"As a year ago, the SME portfolio shrank by nearly 9% to Rub 4.5 tln (down 5% in 2015). Meanwhile, despite a drop in overdue debt (-4.5% against the number as of January 1, 2016), the share of overdue SME loans remains high (14.2% as of January 1, 2017 vs. 13.6% as of January 1, 2016)," the agency said in a press release.
In 2016, SME lending fell 3% to Rub 5.3 tln. This was driven by the fact that Top 30 banks (by assets) restored their positions in the SME lending segment, with loans granted by the country's biggest banks jumping 20% y-o-y in 2016, RAEX noted.
Sberbank retained the status of the leading SME lender, followed by VTB 24 and Moscow Industrial Bank, respectively.
