The current value has already exceeded the figure for the entire 2020 – then citizens took out 14.5 million of such loans. In addition, the data for January – October 2021 is more than the results of 2019 in 15.3 million loans.
“Disbursements in cash against the backdrop of growing consumer demand last month were again at a high level, despite attempts by the Central Bank to cool unsecured consumer lending with additional macroprudential measures, which began to operate in October. The increase in the key rate also did not reduce the interest of the population in borrowed funds, so we expect that the total number of issued cash loans by the end of the year will approach 20 million, ”said Artur Aleksandrovich, General Director of the OKB.
The growth of lending for 10 months occurred in annual terms in all 30 regions, leading in terms of the number of consumer loans issued. The largest increase was recorded in Tatarstan – by 44%, up to 435,000 units. The top also includes Irkutsk (+ 43%, 351,000 units), Moscow (+ 41%, 905,000 units) and Tyumen regions (+ 41%, 204,000). An increase of 40% was recorded in Moscow (up to 1 million units), Bashkortostan (up to 489,000 units) and the Rostov region (up to 418,000 units). % respectively.
Earlier, Frank RG analysts reported that in October Russian banks issued 1.8 million cash loans to the population for 564.4 billion rubles. This is 8.7 and 10.64%, respectively, less than in September. This decline was the largest since January this year, however, during this period, a noticeable reduction in the volume of loans provided is always observed. If compared with other months, then it is the highest since April 2020, when against the background of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the introduced non-working day regime in the country, the lending rate collapsed by more than 50%.
Also in October, the average check on a cash loan fell by 2.12% on a monthly basis and 1.53% on an annualized basis, amounting to 314,000 rubles. It is now at its lowest since May 2020.
To curb the pace of consumer lending, which began to accelerate this year after a sharp drop in 2020 amid the pandemic and the restrictions imposed on it, the Central Bank began to take measures. The regulator has raised macroprudential premiums on this type of loans to banks twice this year – from July 1 and October 1. In addition, the Central Bank raised the key rate to a record 7.5% per annum since July 2019. Thus, since the beginning of 2021, the indicator has grown from a historically low 4.25% per annum by 3.25 p.p.
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