After a modest recovery in 2016, following the sharp decline in assets and capital in 2015, banks in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have continued to see solid growth, with 2018 building on the positive trends seen in 2017. While top-line figures were not as impressive as in 2017, other metrics showed further promising signs.
The Top 100 CIS banks’ assets as a whole grew by 2.21% in 2018, markedly down from the 6.82% growth rate a year earlier. Aggregate Tier 1 capital growth was also down considerably, with a growth rate of 1.39%, compared with 16.07% in 2017. However, the aggregate return on assets (ROA) across the banks continued to rise, reaching 1.82% versus 1.28% in 2017 and 0.61% in 2016. Return on capital (ROC) was also up, at 17.51%, compared with 12.14% in 2017.
