The Russian government has no plan to introduce total restrictions on businesses and citizens amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This was announced on Thursday, November 29, by Vladimir Putin during his speech at the annual investment forum VTB Capital “Russia is Calling!”.
“We clearly understand how to act, and therefore we do not plan to introduce total restrictive measures, launch the so-called nationwide lockdown, when the economy, the work of business actually completely stops,” the head of state emphasized.
The President added that in the event of an exacerbation of the epidemiological situation in each region, "justified, point decisions" will be made in order to maximize the continuous operation of key sectors of the economy.
Recall that from March 30 to May 12, 2020, in the country, as part of the fight against coronavirus, a general non-working day regime was in force.
During this period, most enterprises from various industries were closed.
Against this backdrop, the government has implemented a number of measures to support the most affected companies.
In particular, we are talking about providing credit vacations, soft loans and tax breaks.
“For Russia, the unconditional priority is to protect the life and health of Russian citizens, our families.
I have already spoken about this many times.
In this logic, we have built and will continue to build our actions during the epidemic, formed a package of anti-crisis measures aimed at preserving jobs, citizens' incomes, and stimulating new orders in production chains.
I would like to note that the total volume of federal funds for such support in the current year is about 4.5% of GDP, "Putin said.
The President added that the decline in the country's GDP by the end of 2020 will be about 4%, which, according to him, is lower than in most other states.
In part, this is due to the peculiarities of the structure of the national economy, experts say.
According to them, the consumer sector, which accounts for about 20% of GDP in Russia, has suffered more than others from the pandemic, in contrast to other European countries, in which this figure often exceeds 50% of GDP.
During his speech, the President admitted that not all companies had time to recover, so he proposed extending the deferral of taxes and insurance premiums for small and medium-sized businesses for an additional three months.
The head of state also decided to extend the moratorium on inspections of such enterprises until the end of 2021.
“Despite all the difficulties of the current year, Russia as a whole managed to maintain macroeconomic stability, prevent a surge in inflation, and ensure the stability of the financial situation in the market,” Putin said.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on the sidelines of the forum that measures to support the Russians and the economy cost 4.5 trillion rubles.
Moreover, a significant part of the budget in the coming years will be directed to help the most vulnerable segments of the population, including pensioners and low-paid workers.
“So, more than 35% of all expenses are allocated for social issues in the 2021 budget,” the head of the Ministry of Finance emphasized.
Housing record
The special attention of the forum participants was attracted by the sharp increase in the growth rate of mortgage lending in the country.
In total, since the beginning of 2020, banks have issued more than 1 million mortgage loans to Russians for 2.7 trillion rubles.
This is evidenced by the data of a joint study by the DOM.RF company and the Frank RG agency.
In September, credit institutions issued a record number of housing loans - more than 180 thousand for the amount of 470 billion rubles.
“The mortgage market this year may reach a record 3.6 trillion rubles in loans, having increased by a quarter compared to last year.
At the same time, the share of preferential mortgages will account for about 900 billion rubles, or a quarter of the total volume of loans, ”said Anatoly Pechatnikov, Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Management Board.
In April, at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the authorities launched a concessional mortgage program at a rate of 6.5% per annum, which initially operated until November 1, 2020.
According to its terms, Russians can receive loans with an appropriate rate for the purchase of apartments worth up to 12 million rubles in the Moscow and St. Petersburg agglomerations, as well as up to 6 million rubles in other regions of the country.
On October 27, the government extended the initiative until July 1, 2021.
© Ramil Sitdikov / RIA Novosti
As Vladimir Putin noted, increasing the affordability of housing for citizens to a certain extent creates risks of rising real estate prices.
According to the latest estimates by DOM.RF, since the beginning of this year, the cost per square meter in new buildings in Russia has risen in price by 10.5%.
Almost half of the price increase was provided by preferential mortgages, which caused a rush of demand for apartments, experts explain.
“With the increasing availability of mortgages, it is necessary to increase the supply in the housing market in order to prevent distortions and a sharp rise in housing prices.
We see this threat, otherwise the entire effect of the rate cut will come to naught, ”the president said.
At the same time, the projected growth in the popularity of home loans will not lead to a mortgage bubble in the banking sector.
The head of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina spoke about this on the sidelines of the forum.
She noted that in developed countries the share of clients with mortgages reaches 50%, while in Russia this figure is noticeably lower.
“Now our mortgage penetration rate is not very high.
We have about 6% of people have a mortgage.
Therefore, there is a potential for growth in the mortgage market, but it must develop progressively, without these bubbles, ”Nabiullina said.
Note that the share of overdue debt over 90 days on housing loans is currently about 1.5% and is at one of the lowest levels in the history of the country's mortgage market.
For comparison, the indicator for other loans exceeded 8%, as evidenced by the data of the DOM.RF market report for the third quarter of 2020.