Cbank: Russians' debt burden at record high of 11.9% as of Apr 1

MOSCOW, May 27 (PRIME) -- Russians' debt burden, which is calculated as the ratio between the loan debt and combined income of the population, grew to a historical record of 11.9% as of April 1 from 11.7% at the beginning of the year, the central bank said in a report on Thursday.

"In conditions of the pandemic, growth in households' loan debt was not accompanied with a corresponding growth in income of the population, which led to an increase in the coefficient of debt servicing to 11.9% as of April 1, 2021," the central bank said.

Unsecured consumer lending contributed the most of the increase. The January–March debt increase rate in the segment corresponded to a more than 15% annual rise.

Russian banks may lose more than 1.4 trillion rubles on loan restructuring during the pandemic, the regulator said. The financial result of banks can fully cover the possible losses because banks earned a 1.6 trillion ruble net profit in 2020, falling 6% from 2019.

The central bank plans to prepare legislative changes regulating retail lending at floating rates: the maximum rates and maturity are planned to be limited. The central bank also wants to restrict the share of such loans in banks portfolios.

(73.4737 – U.S. $1)

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