It seems the Russian
government and banks will soon be lavishing loans on citizens. Another meeting
on economic issues chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has indicated that
credit organisations are ready to provide loans with interest rates of 8% to
12%. The government is considering a one year extension for subsidized car
loans and even doing away with the car price limit of 600,000 roubles.
Mr Putin has also tasked
officials with ensuring that the loans are as affordable as possible, both for
companies and citizens.
"The money supply remains
short for the real economy and it is expensive," Mr Putin said. "The average
weighted rate for bank loans in roubles fell from 17.4% in January to 15.1% in
August, but this is still not enough."
He believes that the main
factor hindering the growth of credit portfolio is the uncertainty and high
risks plaguing both the global and Russian economy. Banks prefer to keep their
assets in highly-liquid instruments rather than invest them in long-term loans.
-"We need additional measures
to stimulate banks' credit activity," the Prime Minister added. "There have
been some changes, but I believe that they're still too slow and insufficient.
Efficiency hinges on the macroeconomic background, on an accurate monetary and
currency exchange policy, on a steady decrease in inflation."
Officials seemed to be working
quite hard during the long meeting.
"State banks are ready to cut
interest rates to between 8% and 12%, depending on the borrower," Finance
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin explained afterwards.
We must admit that credit organisations are
indeed being very generous, since everything depends on the refinancing rate.
The rate has been declining steadily (it's fallen three percentage points since
April - Izvestia), but still only
reached 10%. Clearly, banks are promising truly cheap loans.
Another important document -
on subsidised car loans - is currently under evaluation. Economic Development
Minister Elvira Nabiullina said that the government was considering an
extension of subsidised loans programme. It's quite possible, she said, that in
2010 the state will continue sponsoring two thirds of lending rate for buying
cars assembled in Russia
that cost less than 600,000 roubles. She added that the price limit could be
abolished.
Ms Nabiullina also stressed
that the Government's actions had already brought some good results. Loan
volumes rose by 50% in September against August. Unfortunately, the showing is
not so impressive for the seriously ill Russian automotive industry. Since the
project's commencement, Russian banks have granted just over 43,000 loans, a
mere drop in the ocean of overall sales.
Anastasia
Savinykh
