Sberbank sees customer demand for purchases in yuan, turnover is growing

MOSCOW, May 16 (Reuters) – Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, is seeing increased interest from retail investors in diversifying their portfolios by buying yuan, said Ruslan Vesterovsky, senior vice president and head of the bank’s wealth management division.

Sberbank has attracted yuan liquidity from the Central Bank several times as demand for the Chinese currency increases, bank chief German Gref said earlier.

Vesterovsky said at the NAUFOR conference that the volume of client transactions in the foreign exchange market is growing.

According to the bank, the volume of operations of retail clients of the bank in the foreign exchange market in 2023 amounted to 6.7 billion rubles.

In general, this year, Sber’s clients are gradually increasing their activity on the exchange – in April, the average daily turnover of the bank increased by 14% and reached 14.2 billion rubles.

Among the stocks most desired by Sbera customers in April were Sbera common and preferred shares, as well as Gazprom and Lukoil securities, Vesterovsky said. (Elena’s Factory)