Central Bank warned banks about the growing debt burden of Russians

The Central Bank has warned banks that the debt burden of Russians will continue to increase throughout 2020.

Elizaveta Danilova, Head of the Financial Stability Department of the Bank of Russia, spoke on this topic at the Gaidar Forum. In her speech, she said that the growth of debt burden will slow down in the new year, but will not decrease. The regulator expects lending volumes to remain high.

The level of debt burden in October reached 10.6%. This was the highest rate since 2012.

Due to the rapid growth in the level of debt load among Russians, the Bank of Russia was forced to take measures to “cool” the market. From October 1, credit institutions must independently calculate the debt burden of borrowers when issuing consumer loans for more than 10,000 rubles.

Since 2014, the number of Russians with loans from four or more banks has doubled. The analytical agency Fitch has calculated that in 2019, Russians gave over 80% of their income to repay loans.