The Central Bank of the Russian Federation raised its forecast for bank profits for 2026 to 3.9–4.4 trillion rubles

The Central Bank (Central Bank) of the Russian Federation increased its forecast for the profit that domestic banks will receive in 2026 by half a trillion rubles - from 3.4-3.9 to 3.9-4.4 trillion. This is stated in the quarterly review of the sector’s work published by the regulator.

It is noted that growth to new record levels is expected “taking into account the high actual level of margins in the first half of the year,” when the net profit of Russian banks increased by 36 percent, to 2.3 trillion rubles.

At the end of 2024, credit institutions collectively increased their profits to 3.8 trillion rubles. This result was a record for the second year in a row (in 2023 it reached 3.3 trillion) and coincided with the upper limit of the previously announced range. In 2025, the figure also reached the top of the profit range of 3-3.5 trillion rubles, which the Central Bank spoke about at the beginning of the year.

Earlier it became known that the amount of cash in circulation in Russia increased by 7.5 percent by July 1 - from 17.973 trillion rubles on July 1, 2025 to 21.284 trillion - and its growth accelerated from 1.9 percent a year earlier by almost four times.