The CEO of the Russian rating agency Expert RA said that digital financial assets (DFAs) regulated by the Bank of Russia have become an important element of the national financial system. According to her, after the Central Bank lowers the interest rate in the future, this market expects explosive growth.

Marina Chekurova said that CFAs have yield indicators that are 0.5-1.8 percentage points higher compared to classic bonds:

“DFAs are becoming a common tool, and this sector will continue to develop, adapting to the realities of the economy. As soon as the Central Bank rate goes down, we will see that in parallel with the traditional bond market, which will receive a second wind, there will also be an explosive growth of the DFA market – at least due to the low base effect.”

The Chairman of the Board of Expert RA referred to Sberbank statistics, according to which the volume of placements of digital financial assets shows positive dynamics. Since the beginning of 2022, DFAs worth 455 billion rubles have been issued, most of which were debt DFAs.

Demand for DFAs will grow as they speed up and simplify financial transactions between market participants, the head of the rating agency said.

Earlier, Deputy Director of the Financial Market Infrastructure Department of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Kristina Aleshina, said that the department is working on amendments to the legislation that will make it possible to transfer digital financial assets into trust management and add them to mutual investment funds.