Consumer credit is now lower than in the second half of last year; in May, the debt increased by about 104 billion rubles or 1.7 percent.
However, banks’ investments in financing end buyers in the Volga Federal District are still at levels above the Russian average (+1.5 percent). The current rate of credit expansion in the Volga region is comparable to the result of the year from the beginning of June 2023 to the end of May 2024. The current growth rate of the indicator is 21.8 percent annualized with real debt growth of 24.45 percent.
Over the past year, residents of Tatarstan (+248 billion rubles), Bashkiria (+225 billion rubles) and Udmurtia (+81 billion rubles) have been most actively attracting bank financing. In these regions, the growth rate of debt was recorded in the region of 27-29 percent. This is noticeably higher than in Vyatka, Saratov, Ulyanovsk and Orenburg regions, where over the year the obligations of individuals to credit institutions increased by about 20 percent.
Statistical data show that the financial regulator, in cooperation with the government, manages to reduce the rate of credit injection. In particular, this was reflected in a decrease in the share of housing loans in the total volume of new debt since the beginning of this year. If in different months of last year the “mortgage” in the Volga Federal District was 50-70 percent, then for four months (February-May) it remained at levels below 40 percent of the total volume of additional funds raised.
Unsecured consumer loans were next in the regulator’s sights. The other day it became known that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is once again tightening the requirements for credit institutions when granting unsecured loans. Since July 1, higher risk ratios have already been introduced, which banks must take into account when balancing their balance sheets. But without waiting for this measure to come into force, the regulator decided to further increase this ratio from September 1. And this is only part of the so-called new macroprudential restrictions in the credit sector.
If previously the tightening of requirements for banks when granting loans to individuals was explained by concern for the solvency of citizens and the stability of the banking system, now the Central Bank bluntly links the tightening of regulation with the high rate of injection of credit into the economy.
“The growth of unsecured consumer loan debt is accelerating (in May the debt increased by 2.0%, in April and March – by 1.8%). The annual growth rate of debt amounted to 18.1% as of June 1, 2024 (annualized – 20%),” the press service of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation reports following the results of the consideration of the issue by the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia.
However, these figures are compared to the increase in income of the country’s population.
