MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Russia’s Central Bank expects banks’ profit to reach from 2.3 trillion rubles ($25 bln) up to 2.8 trillion rubles ($30.6 bln) this year, the regulator’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.

"The banking sector has recovered to a large extent after the crisis year of 2022, with banks having seriously boosted business, reached record lending rates and posted high profit. By the way, this also mitigates withdrawal from regulatory easing. We expect banks to continue contributing to economic development and remain in the black this year. According to preliminary estimates, this year’s profit may reach from 2.3 trillion rubles to 2.8 trillion rubles across the banking sector," she said.

The regulator does not expect contraction of the loan portfolio, though dynamics is likely to be diverse. According to the forecast for 2024, the banks’ corporate portfolio will gain 6-11%, mortgage loans will rise by 7-12%, while consumer loans will add 3-8%. In 2023, the corporate portfolio increased by record 20% after 14% in 2022. The portfolio of unsecured consumer loans grew by almost 16% in 2023 after 3% in 2022.