11:26, 2 July 2021 Page views 1096 views

Bank of Russia to lift part of coronavirus regulatory easings introduced earlier

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From July 1, the Bank of Russia will curtail a number of measures introduced to support citizens and businesses against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the press office of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation reports.

In particular, the recommendations on the restructuring of loans to borrowers affected by the coronavirus will be terminated. The central bank explained this fact by the rapid economic recovery.

Also, by the end of June, banks must establish provisions for possible losses on loans to individuals and SMBs restructured earlier because of the COVID-19 situation.

The central bank has clarified that the volume of individuals’ loan restructuring reached 940.4 billion rubles, while the debt of small businesses amounted to 925.3 billion rubles. However, to further support banks, the central bank will ease the regulation for unsecured consumer loans issued before April 1, 2020, which will free up 124 billion rubles of capital.

In March 2020, the Bank of Russia began to introduce temporary regulatory easings for financial institutions amid the coronavirus pandemic. The support measures were applied to individuals and companies affected by the spread of this infection. The regulator extended the period of validity of its recommendations several times. At the end of March 2021, the central bank announced that the banks' current margin of safety was sufficient to cover potential losses, and there was no need to extend the regulatory easings  introduced by the regulator against the background of the pandemic