Putin says Russia must pursue 7% mortgage lending rate

MOSCOW, Jun 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian government’s goal is an 8% mortgage rate but it should try to cut it to 7%, President Vladimir Putin said during a live Q&A conference with the people on Thursday.

“I have already said in my address, I think, that we must set about 8% as our mortgage goal but must strive towards 7%. There is not a single odd word, we have argued a lot about the issue. Everything is connected with budget spending but the government and the central bank must try to make it to 7%.”

Putin said that he will initiate amendments to legislation giving families with two and more children the right for a 6% mortgage instead of regular 13%.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the ministry will work on reduction of mortgage rates, which now averages 9.73%.

Putin also said that the country needs to leave behind the shared-equity housing construction practice and agreements of this type will no longer be signed from July 2019.

“We must end up with civilized ways of housing construction, with no people’s money involved.” “We have decided to cease to sign new shared-equity construction agreements from July 1, 2019 and to attract money solely through the system of financial entities, through banks.”

Head of the financial market committee of the State Duma, parliament’s lower chamber, Anatoly Aksakov said that mortgage rate can fall to 7–8% in 2019.”I think we shall see this happening next year.”

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