In March, Russia saw significant growth of the pace of unsecured consumer lending (1.9% after 1% in February), which is comparable to the pre-crisis levels, according to information from the Bank of Russia.
The Central Bank still finds it difficult to say whether this upsurge is temporary or whether banks are keen on high-margin lending (just as they were after the 2014-2015 recession).
The growth in the mortgage lending segment accelerated again after a seasonal decline early in the year. According to major banks, mortgage lending increased by 2.2% in March versus 1.9% in February and 0.9% in January. The amount of loans under the 6.5% Concessional Mortgage Lending program increased by a quarter month-on-month to RUB 135 billion, although still being below the autumn 2020 highs (almost RUB 160 billion per month) A total of RUB 1.3 trillion were provided in loans under the program as of April 1, 2021.
