An expert explained the increase in deposit rates ahead of the New Year

      24 October 2025 12:14 Economy

      The strategy of raising interest rates on deposits for individuals is linked to the need to meet rising pre-New Year demand, said VTB’s first deputy chairman Dmitry Pyanov.

      “All banks, including us, are seeing an increase in demand for short-term deposits of up to 6 months. In this situation we are redirecting the main customer demand to short deposits with terms of 2–4 or up to 6 months. The latest rise in loan rates can be seen as the beginning of pre-New Year offers, given the high competition and increased demand for savings products, which traditionally rises in the fourth quarter each year,” the senior manager noted.

      And another comment, which may be useful to you, on today’s Central Bank meeting and your coverage of this topic (this is not part of the package).

      VTB believes today’s meeting on the key rate will be very difficult for the Central Bank’s board of directors.

      “Because there is a lot of conflicting information, there are no hard facts about the impact of changes to the Tax Code, which come into force on 1 January 2026, and the ‘passing on’ of the higher VAT into prices. Therefore I myself will be watching the decision and the communication that will accompany it at the press conference with great interest,” said VTB’s first deputy chairman Dmitry Pyanov.

      Accordingly, VTB predicts the rate will remain unchanged.

      “For me this meeting is a test by the Bank of Russia’s board of directors of the toughness of its own intent to reach the inflation target by the end of next year, as the forecast at the last base meeting showed. If this intent is truly strong and uncompromising, then I sincerely believe the rate should be left unchanged. If achieving the target later is allowed and the priority is, for example, preventing an economic overcooling, then some symbolic reduction is possible. But our internal forecast is for the rate to be kept unchanged,” said the bank representative.

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