Russia considers further easing of rules on risk to take heat off banks

Moscow

THE Russian central bank is considering further relaxing regulation of the banking sector, to ease the burden on banks pressured by Western sanctions and an economic slowdown, a first deputy governor of the central bank said on Tuesday.

Alexei Simanovsky, the first deputy governor, told journalists that the bank was considering temporarily relaxing rules affecting how banks calculate the risks associated with certain consumer loans with high interest rates.