The Chinese yuan is increasingly beginning to influence the Russian economy. Over the past six months, the yield on deposits of major banks in this currency has increased from 1% to more than 3% per year. As for bonds, here the financiers are recording growth of 4 to 6% per year. This is reported by Kommersant journalists, with reference to the Central Bank’s “Financial Market Risk Overview”.
According to Banki.ru, at least 100 Russian credit institutions currently offer deposit products with the participation of Chinese currency. By way of comparison, a year ago, no more than a dozen banks had made similar offers.
“There are several reasons for the increased profitability of yuan deposits. First, the share of the yuan as a savings instrument in Russia has risen quite sharply. Secondly, for credit institutions, the opportunities to conduct not only passive, but also active operations in Chinese currency (crediting, investing in debt securities, etc.) have significantly expanded. The number of yuan-denominated debt securities issued by Russian issuers increased sharply. Thirdly, China is taking a very cautious stance on sanctions, and now there is a period of reflection in Russia on the fact that this eastern country’s policy towards us is predictable and will not lead serious costs, – comments the head of the regional branch of the Party of Growth in the Lipetsk region, associate professor of the Russian University of Economics of the name. GV Plekhanov, expert of the Russian-Chinese Friendship, Peace and Development Committee Vadim Kovrigin. – The yield on the bonds themselves in Chinese currency is also growing. The debt market in this segment has become significantly more competitive. At the same time, the growth in the profitability of deposits and investments in yuan has limits. So far, this currency has not become the main world currency, and its conversion has considerable costs. Yield growth is also limited by the high volatility of the Chinese and Hong Kong stock markets. The Chinese yuan itself is quite volatile.
Recall that earlier the Central Bank of Russia noted a tendency to increase the share of the yuan not only in payments for foreign economic transactions, but also in foreign exchange and over-the-counter markets. Since March last year, Russian exporters have increased monthly Chinese yuan trading volume by $0.5 billion to the current $6.9 billion, while importers have increased from $1.4 billion. at $7.7 billion. The share of the Chinese yuan in the export structure was 18%, in the import structure – 27%.
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