Bank of Russia’s decisions on macroprudential policy

1. The Bank of Russia has set macroprudential limits (MPLs) for mortgage loans for 2025 Q3 and lowered macroprudential add-ons for new mortgages starting from 1 July 2025.

The macroprudential add-ons for mortgages helped considerably enhance the structure of mortgage lending. The proportion of loans issued to borrowers with DSTI¹ above 80% contracted from the peak value of 47% recorded in 2023 Q3 to 6% in 2025 Q1, including from 46% to 3% in the SCA² segment and from 47% to 12% in the existing housing market. Likewise, the percentage of new loans with a down payment below 20% dropped from 51% to 5%, including from 59% to 2% in the SCA segment and from 45% to 12% in the existing housing market. The quality of mortgage servicing deteriorated somewhat (the proportion of loans overdue for more than 90 days increased from 0.5% as of 1 April 2024 to 0.9% as of 1 April 2025) on account of loans issued amid soaring demand for mortgages in 2023 H2—2024 H1.

On 1 April 2025, the Bank of Russia was granted the authority to establish MPLs for mortgages so as to reduce the share of high-risk loans in total disbursements. The Bank of Russia has decided to set MPLs for mortgages for 2025 Q3 at a level that would not worsen the existing structure of the riskiest loans (i.e. loans issued to borrowers with DSTI above 50% and with a down payment below 20%). Taking into account the uneven structure of loans issued by certain banks, the MPLs established provide for a small margin. Therefore, their introduction will have no impact on the supply of mortgages.

MPLs for mortgages issued in 2025 Q3 for banks with a universal licence:

As banks’ opportunities to increase the amounts of the riskiest loans will be constrained by the MPLs, the Bank of Russia will lower the add-ons for such loans from the prohibitive level starting from 1 July 2025.  

Macroprudential add-ons for mortgages:

Risk-weight add-ons for mortgages issued from 1 July 2025 and secured by claims under SCAs

For reference: risk-weight add-ons for mortgages issued from 1 March 2025 and secured by claims under SCAs

Risk-weight add-ons for mortgages issued from 1 July 2025 and secured by residential real estate or apartments

For reference: risk-weight add-ons for mortgages issued from 1 March 2025 and secured by residential real estate or apartments

Given the above, the macroprudential capital buffer will continue to accumulate in mortgage lending, albeit more slowly. As of 1 April 2025, the mortgage capital buffer reached ₽358 billion, or 1.8% of the portfolio, and may increase to 2% of the portfolio by the end of the year.

2. The Bank of Russia has set MPLs for car loans and general-purpose consumer loans secured by vehicles for 2025 Q3.

Owing to the increased macroprudential add-ons for car loans and general-purpose consumer loans secured by vehicles, introduced by the Bank of Russia from 1 July 2024, the lending standards improved in both segments. In the car loan segment, the proportion of loans issued to borrowers with DSTI above 50% decreased from 61% in 2024 Q2 to 20% in 2025 Q1, while the proportion of the riskiest loans issued to borrowers with DSTI above 80% lowered from 29% to 3%. In the segment of general-purpose consumer loans secured by vehicles (which were presumably used by banks to reduce the regulatory burden),⁸ the percentage of loans issued to borrowers with DSTI above 50% was down from 79% in 2024 Q2 to 44% in 2025 Q1, while the proportion of the riskiest loans issued to borrowers with DSTI above 80% contracted from 43% to 15%.

The quality of car loan servicing stabilised amid stricter requirements for borrowers. The leading indicator of credit quality — the percentage of loans overdue for more than 30 days after the first three months on book — was stable over the previous two quarters at the level of 0.3–0.4% (-0.5–0.7 pp as compared with 2024 Q2 and Q3).

Like banks, microfinance organisations (MFOs) were actively building up the volume of new microloans secured by vehicles, including to reduce the regulatory burden associated with the MPLs.⁹ Most of these microloans (58%) were issued to borrowers with DSTI above 50%.¹⁰

Considering the existing lending structure, the Bank of Russia has set the MPLs for car loans and general-purpose consumer loans secured by vehicles at equal levels for 2025 Q3. They provide for a margin for car loans and will not affect households’ ability to take out these loans to purchase cars.

MPLs for consumer loans secured by vehicles for 2025 Q3 (for banks with a universal licence and MFOs):

3. The Bank of Russia has decided to keep the MPLs and macroprudential add-ons for unsecured¹¹ consumer loans/microloans unchanged for 2025 Q3.

The MPLs introduced by the Bank of Russia in 2023 helped notably reduce the percentage of such loans and curb the potential growth of losses. The proportion of new unsecured consumer loans issued to borrowers with DSTI above 50% fell from 61% in 2023 Q1 to 24%¹² in 2025 Q1.¹³ However, the quality of their servicing slightly lowered. The share of loans overdue for more than 30 days after the first three months on book in total loans issued in early 2025 exceeded 2.7% (+1.2 pp over the six months). The largest growth was observed in lending to borrowers with DSTI above 50%.

Owing to the add-ons introduced, banks accumulated a macroprudential capital buffer of ₽834 billion for consumer loans (7.1% of the consumer loan portfolio). This buffer can be released by the Bank of Russia to absorb banks’ potential losses related to retail loans if the situation in the economy deteriorates.

4. The macroprudential add-ons for corporate loans (for growth in claims on large highly leveraged companies¹⁴ and foreign currency loans) have not been revised.

From 1 April 2024 to 1 April 2025, corporate lending in foreign currency declined by $14.5 billion (-11%). Therefore, no additional stimuli to encourage dedollarisation in the form of macroprudential add-ons are needed.

5. The Bank of Russia has decided to keep the schedule for setting the level of the national countercyclical buffer (CCyB) unchanged.

The capital adequacy ratio of the banking sector went up from 12.5% to 13% in 2025 Q1, with the growth rates of capital buffers varying across banks. Given the increase in the capital buffers of certain banks and the Bank of Russia’s decision to reduce macroprudential add-ons for mortgages¹⁵ and credit card debt during the grace period¹⁶ in 2025 Q1, all banks manage to comply with the level of the CCyB (to become effective from 1 July 2025) equalling 0.5% of risk-weighted assets, provided that lending growth remains balanced.

Considering the above, the Bank of Russia’s earlier decision on the CCyB level and its introduction date¹⁷ remains unchanged. The accumulation of the CCyB in the amount of 0.5 pp, along with the macroprudential buffers for certain types of loans, will enhance banks’ resilience.

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