### Russian Interbank Benchmark Rate Stabilizes at 14.25%
The RUONIA (Russian Overnight Index Average), which serves as a benchmark for coupon payments, stabilized on Thursday at 14.25%.
RUONIA is an indicative rate for overnight ruble-denominated interbank lending. It is calculated as a weighted average of actual overnight lending transactions between the top 35 Russian banks.
The RUSFAR ON RUB (overnight in rubles) rate stands at 14.22%, while the RUSFAR ON CNY (overnight in yuan) rate is 0.7%.
It is important to note that RUONIA (Ruble Overnight Index Average) is an unsecured overnight lending rate in rubles, calculated by the Bank of Russia based on transactions among the top 35 banks. On the other hand, RUSFAR (Russian Secured Funding Average Rate) is a secured funding rate (repo with a central counterparty), calculated by the Moscow Exchange for different maturities (ON, 1M, 3M, etc.).
RUSFAR serves as a key benchmark:
- It reflects the level of rates in the Russian money market.
- It is based on the average values of repo transactions with the central counterparty.
- It is included in the list of financial indicators approved by the Bank of Russia.
The main difference is that RUONIA is an unsecured rate, while RUSFAR is a secured rate, but both are key indicators of the cost of money in the market and are used for floating rates in bonds.
This overview was presented by Alexey Grishchenko, Doctor of Economics, Professor at the Department of Operational and Sectoral Management of the Faculty "Higher School of Management" at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.