The debt burden ratio of Russians at the macro-level (DBR, the ratio of all payments under relevant loans to total income of the population) increased to record-breaking 11.7% as of 2021 year-start, according to papers for the presentation of Elizaveta Danilova, the department head in the Central Bank of Russia.
"The debt burden grew last year. This is largely associated with the pandemic, with the contraction of people’s income, especially in the second quarter of the last year. Nevertheless, other factors contributed to restraining the process. First of all, this is the reduction of interest rates observed last year. The debt burden increased nevertheless but not as significantly as it could be," TASS cited Danilova as saying.
The average DBR in mortgage lending declined from 60% in the first quarter to 56% in the fourth quarter of the last year.
"The average DBR has even dropped for mortgages and high levels of DBR are much lower than in unsecured lending. This is because banks are more conservative for mortgages, assess incomes more thoroughly and focus more frequently on official sources for confirmation of borrower’s income. The DBR levels there are even lower than before the pandemic. No new risks are formed even despite quick growth of lending," she added.
