Experts recorded a two-fold decrease in the issuance of consumer loans in Russia

Russian banks faced a slowdown in the most profitable business segment - consumer lending: in the first two weeks of March 2022, the number of unsecured loans issued was almost half as much as in the same period in February this year, Equifax told RBC.

“The turning point for many lenders was on February 26, when loans fell by more than 60% (compared to the previous Saturday, February 19), which was partly offset in the following days. The next turning point was on March 1, when, after some recovery, the market fixed at 50% of the issuance in February, ”said the representative of the bureau. Equifax did not disclose data on the number and volume of consumer loans issued in absolute terms.

According to the bureau's statistics, for the whole of February, Russian banks approved almost 2 million consumer loans worth 487.9 billion rubles to the population. Thus, taking into account the halving of disbursements in the first two weeks of March, market participants could issue about 500,000 consumer loans to individuals. For comparison: in April 2020, the first month of the self-isolation regime in RUSSIA due to the CORONAVIRUS pandemic, 550 thousand cash loans were approved for the population, in May the issuance grew to 712 thousand.

The National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBCH) did not disclose data on issuance, but reported that in the first week of March, there was a decrease in applications of individuals for loans from banks by 53% compared to the same period in 2021 and by 55% compared to February of this of the year. “Both borrowers and banks, in the face of uncertainty and a sharp increase in the key rate, try not to make sudden movements and are more inclined to take a wait-and-see attitude. In our opinion, in the coming months, the growth in rates as a result of sanctions pressure will become a determining factor for the credit market, where we can expect a significant decline, comparable to the quarantine April-May 2020,” said Alexei Volkov, NBKI Marketing DIRECTOR.