OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2015. Russian banks' ratio of non-performing loans for retail lending could rise to 8 percent by the end of the year, a first deputy governor of the central bank said on Monday.

Alexei Simanovsky, the central bank official, said banks' non-performing loan ratio for retail lending was at 6.3 percent in January.

Russian banks' loan quality has been deteriorating as an economic slowdown makes it harder for borrowers to meet their loan repayments.