One third of Russians are in debt

Every third citizen of Russia (32%) make payments towards a loan, according to the research conducted by the Magram Market Research agency. Two thirds of them (63%) pay cash loans, 37% pay mortgage loans.

Most often, Russians with incomes below the average (36%) are in debt, while those with income above the average (26%) - least frequent. People with low incomes often get consumer loans (68%), while those with high income - mortgage loans (54%).

Among Russians with an average income, every third person take on a loan (29%), and slightly less than half (47%) pay mortgage loans, while 53% pay consumer loans.

On average, borrowers pay a bank a quarter of their income (26%). Mortgage and cash loan payments do not differ markedly (27% and 25% of income, respectively), Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.

Most often, cash loans are intended to repair the apartment, cottage or home (32% of respondents). Every fourth (25%) respondent need a loan to buy a car. The third most popular answer is the purchase of household equipment and electronics (18%), 13% of borrowers need loans for the common necessaries.

Most often, loans are get by people aged 25-44 years - 47% of all loans.

The Chairman of the Board of the National Currency Association (NCA), Dmitry Piskulov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the level of debt load held by population in Russia is not of major concern. "Russia's interest rates, of course, are not the same as those in the West, but in general, they allow citizens to repay their debts," he said.

"The fact that citizens can take out a mortgage to buy a flat or other goods is a boon to the economy, because it develops consumer demand for goods and services, respectively, increases economic activity and economic growth rates. In general, we cannot say that the situation with loans in Russia is negative now, because, in fact, most people in the world are in debt in one way or another, and the loan leverage is a tool for economic development," Dmitry Piskulov emphasized.

The professor at the department of the stock market and investments at the Higher School of Economics, Alexander Abramov, in turn, noted that, given the fall in incomes, these statistics are alarming for Russia.

"There is such an international norm that the population should spend no more than 30% of monthly gross income on repaying a loan and interest. And there is a certain percentage of non-repayable loans that are considered a threat - if it exceeds 8% of the loan portfolio, then this indicates a completely abnormal situation," Alexander Abramov concluded.