MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russians banks need to raise at least three trillion rubles ($100 billion) in additional capital in the next three years to meet tighter capital requirements and keep the domestic banking system stable, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Simanovsky said on Monday.

The Russian banking sector’s capital holdings grew by 16.6 percent in 2012 to 6.1 trillion rubles ($203 billion) but rapid growth in bank lending, especially in the household sector, and the introduction of tighter Basel III bank capital adequacy standards requires further increase in bank capital, the banker said.

“In 2012, banking sector capital grew by about 1 trillion rubles and their profits over that period also increased by the same amount. This means banks can cover a considerable part of their requirement for capital with their profits. The funds of domestic and foreign investors can also be used for this purpose,” Simanovsky said in comments posted on the website of the Association of Russian Banks.

“Overall, the capital of the Russian banking sector at the level of 10 trillion rubles does not seem to be an illusion by 2016. It is understandable that the largest [Russian] banks must increase their capital proportional to their size and even by a greater amount,” Simanovsky said.