The Central Bank of Russia published its review of 2025 microfinance market trends, showing that microloan issuance by microfinance organisations stabilized at about RUB 0.5 trillion per quarter, or RUB 2 trillion for the year, after strong growth in 2024. Portfolio expansion slowed markedly, from 10% in early 2025 to 0.7% by late 2025, which the central bank linked to a steady tightening of measures aimed at limiting household over-indebtedness. The review highlights two main drivers of the cooldown. Microfinance organisations were barred from using unconfirmed borrower income data, a step intended to prevent understatement of borrowers' true debt burden. Macroprudential limits on car loans were also used to stop highly indebted borrowers from shifting into that segment, and the share of car loans issued to borrowers with a high debt service-to-income ratio fell from a peak of 88% to 14%. Ahead of upcoming limits on how many expensive microloans a borrower may hold at the same time, microfinance organisations also continued to expand credit-limit products, whose share of total consumer lending rose by 14 percentage points to 38%. The review also notes that state micromortgage companies were opened in six Russian regions in 2025 to deliver subsidized mortgage programs. Together they issued RUB 2.7 billion of mortgages over the year, with an average maturity of 20 years.
Central Bank of Russia2026-03-23
Central Bank of Russia review shows microloan growth slowed sharply in 2025 as tighter lending curbs took effect
The Central Bank of Russia said microloan issuance by microfinance organisations stabilized at about RUB 2 trillion in 2025 and portfolio growth slowed to 0.7% by late 2025. It attributed the slowdown to tighter borrower-protection measures, including verified income requirements and car loan limits for highly indebted borrowers. The review also noted a shift toward credit-limit products and the launch of state micromortgage companies in six regions.