One of the reasons for this move was the banks' own inflated expectations regarding the Central Bank's actions. According to Yuri Belikov, Managing Director of the Expert RA rating agency, some market participants overestimated the speed of the key rate reduction. Since the pace of policy easing has actually slowed, banks are now forced to temporarily improve terms to prevent customer outflows.
Andrey Smirnov, a stock market expert at BCS World of Investments, agrees, seeing this as a way to accumulate liquidity before further monetary policy easing. Igor Dodonov, an analyst at FINAM, adds that competition plays a key role. In this way, banks seek to retain the funds of depositors whose high-yield deposits are about to expire.
ACRA Managing Director Valery Piven also emphasized that the increases only apply to certain, mostly short-term, deposits. He attributes this to marketing policies and expectations of a slower rate reduction. This week, Sberbank and VTB offered a maximum yield of 16% per annum for three months, while Dom.RF offered 17%.
Despite the current adjustments, experts predict an overall decline in deposit yields following the key rate. Igor Dodonov believes that the Central Bank may cut the rate again at its next meeting, which will positively impact banks' net interest margins. The next meeting of the Central Bank's board of directors, which lowered the rate to 17% in September, will be held on October 24. Experts shared their opinions with RIA Novosti.
Earlier, banks estimated the loan default rate in the first month of the "cooling-off period" at 4-5%.