OREANDA-NEWS. January 20, 2010. The largest Russian state-run bank and leader of the retail lending market Sberbank has resumed currency-denominated loans to individuals to purchase housing. The program was frozen in December 2008 due to high currency risks. Currency-denominated mortgage lending was resumed on January 15, the bank said.

In December 2008, Sberbank imposed a moratorium on currency loans to individuals in order to minimize risks of possible delays in interest payments against currency loans as a result of extreme volatility of exchange rates. In January-November, the bank’s retail lending portfolio declined 7.1% to RUB 1.17 tn from RUB 1.26 tn.