Cbank says to grant mortgage grace period to unemployed Russians

MOSCOW, Jan 29 (PRIME) -- The Russian central bank will grant the unemployed a grace period on mortgages of up to one year but no more than six months at a time, First Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov told PRIME on Tuesday.

“We know from experience of mortgage restructuring, that over 90% of the borrowers leave behind temporary financial difficulties and return to the payment schedule if they are granted such an opportunity. Many banks introduced the practice of restructuring, we offer to extend this practice to the entire market,” Shvetsov said.

He said that the mortgage grace period will not oblige banks to create additional reserves because temporary non-payment will not qualify as jeopardy.

About a third of Russians repay mortgages ahead of schedule. “This is a statistically proven phenomenon: about a third of mortgages are serviced ahead of schedule,” he said.

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