Pension stress test parameters simulate oil drop to 25 dollars
The Bank of Russia has published updated stress-testing scenarios for non-governmental pension funds under Order No. OD-1591 of September 11, 2026. The framework defines five baseline and liquidity shock scenarios covering macroeconomic, credit, and asset price risks.
Five years of compounding stress
Under the five-year baseline scenario, macroeconomic parameters model severe economic stress across 20 quarters.
Export oil prices fall from $40.50 to $24.80 per barrel by the third quarter, while annual inflation peaks at 14.92 percent alongside a 7.00 percent GDP contraction in the first quarter.
Foreign exchange shocks simulate quarterly ruble depreciation of 40.60 percent against the yuan and 38.82 percent against the US dollar.
Default probabilities for corporate assets scale across ten credit quality tiers, rising to 8.59 percent for tier-eight assets and reaching 100 percent for default-grade positions.
Concentration rules require a downgrade of up to three notches for single exposures exceeding 10 percent of portfolio assets.
Zero value for frozen holdings
The regulation establishes strict valuation and liquidity rules for institutional portfolios.
Assets subject to foreign encumbrances or sanctions must be recorded at zero value with zero cash flows.
Conversely, bonds financing technological sovereignty projects receive regulatory protection, maintaining at least a tier-three credit rating.
In liquidity shock scenarios spanning one to four quarters, asset sales are capped based on three-month average daily trading volumes and credit ratings, while uncollateralized default recovery rates are set at 35 percent.
Hard buffers with targeted carve-outs
The parameters force pension funds to build heavy buffers against compounding macro shocks.
Writing off blocked assets while protecting state priority bonds explicitly steers capital toward domestic projects.
This regulation strengthens solvency testing but entrenches structural market distortions.
Source: NPF stress testing scenarios updated
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