Central Bank of Russia tightens fourth-quarter limits on high-risk consumer and car lending, keeps mortgage limits and buffers unchanged

The Central Bank of Russia tightened macroprudential limits for the fourth quarter of 2026 on high-risk unsecured consumer loans and microloans without a credit limit, home and auto equity loans, and car loans. Limits remain unchanged for unsecured consumer lending with a credit limit and for mortgages, reflecting improved mortgage lending standards. The bank also left macroprudential add-ons and the 0.5 percentage point national countercyclical buffer unchanged. For unsecured lending without a credit limit, the maximum share of loans to borrowers with a debt service-to-income ratio above 50% will fall to 15% from 18%. Nested limits will decline to 1% from 3% for ratios above 80% and to 1% from 5% for maturities of at least five years. Home and auto equity loan limits were aligned with unsecured lending to curb regulatory arbitrage. For car loans, the limit for ratios above 50% will fall to 20% from 25%, while the sublimit above 80% will decline to 1% from 5%. The bank kept mortgage limits unchanged after the proportion of higher-risk originations declined, including loans with debt service-to-income ratios above 80%. It also maintained the 100% add-on for growth in claims on highly leveraged large companies and existing add-ons for foreign-currency corporate claims. Banking-sector capital adequacy rose to 14.1% as of July 1, 2026, supporting the decision to leave the countercyclical buffer unchanged.