MOSCOW, July 1 From July 1, the Central Bank for the first time tightens macroprudential limits on consumer loans and microloans — a reduction for the third quarter will be 5 percentage points compared to previous values.
The Central Bank introduced limits on consumer loans for banks and microfinance organizations from the beginning of this year: banks with a universal license could provide heavily indebted borrowers with a maximum of a quarter of all loans issued, and loans for a period of more than 5 years — no more than 10%. MFIs could issue no more than 35% of all microloans issued during the quarter to such clients. For the second quarter, the values were kept.
However, now credit institutions with a universal license in July-September will be able to provide borrowers with a debt burden of 80% or more of a maximum fifth of all issued consumer loans, and loans for a period of more than 5 years — no more than 5%. At the same time, microfinance organizations will be able to issue them no more than 30% of all microloans issued during the quarter.
The Central Bank explained the decision to tighten the limits by the need to limit the growth of citizens' debt load by discouraging lending to borrowers with a high debt burden and artificially lengthening the term of loans and borrowings.
The Central Bank noted that banks and microfinance organizations with a margin complied with the limits in the first quarter of 2023, this was achieved by providing borrowers with a smaller loan and for a shorter period. The regulator emphasizes that the restrictions did not lead to the stagnation of the portfolio of unsecured consumer loans — the demand for loans continued to grow, and there was also a «some redistribution» of the market.