Demand for loan restructuring in Russia has fallen to its lowest level in a year and a half

Demand for loan restructuring in Russia reached a year and a half minimum in April-June. The number of applications from citizens decreased quarter-on-quarter by 11.5 percent, to 1.4 million applications. Kommersant writes about this with reference to Central Bank data.

The drop in the number of applications for restructuring under banking programs is accompanied by a record demand for credit holidays, for which a record more than 300 thousand people applied for them in the second quarter. It is noted that a record was also set for mortgage holidays, for which 17.3 thousand applications were received.

Experts explain this dynamics of citizens’ preferences both by the situation with the key rate, due to which banks tightened their risk approaches in anticipation of a longer period of tight monetary policy, and by the desire of clients not to spoil their own credit history.

The latter is due to the fact that credit holidays give the borrower a deferment of up to six months without penalties and risks for future loan applications, while individual restructuring “usually leaves a mark on the credit history,” explained Ilya Fedorin, junior director for credit institution ratings at the Expert RA agency. He expects the shift in demand observed in this area to continue in July-September.