A general easing of monetary policy in Russia should accelerate the country's recovery from the crisis and bring the banking sector "to a qualitatively different state - to a situation of relatively low interest rates."

President Vladimir Putin announced this on Monday, February 1, at a meeting on the situation in the banking sector.

“Undoubtedly, this is a correct and necessary tendency, when borrowed funds for the expansion and development of production, for the creation of new jobs, become more accessible,” the head of state emphasized.

At the same time, the Russian leader noted that along with lending rates in Russia, there was also a decrease in interest on deposits.

Under these conditions, Russians increasingly prefer other forms of saving money.

First of all, we are talking about investing in more profitable stocks and bonds.

Meanwhile, according to the president, buying securities is a more risky way to store money compared to bank deposits.

Against this background, the head of state called for protecting the interests of Russians playing on the stock exchange.

“It is necessary to protect the interests of people who invest their money in the securities market, but who are not, of course, professional investors.

We need to take care to reduce their risks.

We only lacked the second edition of the defrauded equity holders, do you understand?

I ask you to pay the most serious attention to this, ”Putin said.

Note that in 2020, the Bank of Russia lowered its key rate from 6.25 to 4.25% per annum.

The indicator became the lowest in the entire post-Soviet period.

As a result, from January to December, the maximum rate on deposits in the ten largest banks fell from 5.93 to 4.49% per annum, according to the Central Bank.

During the same time, brokerage accounts on the Moscow Exchange were opened by 5 million people - more than in total for all previous years.

“At the end of 2020, the trading volume on the stock market reached a historic high and amounted to 23.9 trillion rubles, which is almost double the result of 2019.

At the same time, the share of private investors in the volume of trading in shares in 2020 amounted to 40.6%, ”the Mosbirzh website says.

As the head of the Finance and Economics department at the Institute of Contemporary Development Nikita Maslennikov told RT, after the peak of inflation in Russia, the Central Bank may again reduce the key rate.

According to the expert, already in the second half of 2021, the indicator can drop to 4% per annum.

In these conditions, the influx of private investors to the exchange may increase, experts say.

Meanwhile, to protect non-professional players from losing money, the authorities will consistently impose restrictions on trading in securities.

“The Central Bank has already taken many steps in this direction.

For example, the Central Bank introduced a number of rules restricting the access of unqualified investors to complex financial products.

Thus, the list of securities available for purchase is limited, "Vasily Karpunin, head of the information and analytical content department at BCS World of Investments, told RT.

Credit support

During the meeting, Vladimir Putin drew particular attention to the dynamics of business lending during the pandemic.

As the President noted, in 2020, the volume of loans issued by banks to enterprises increased by about 11%.

“The country's banking system has played a very important role in overcoming the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic.

A whole set of support tools that we provided for enterprises, companies in the real sector of the economy, for Russian families at this difficult, frankly speaking, time, was tied to the participation of banks, ”the head of state emphasized.

According to him, banks were actively restructuring loans from citizens and companies.

In addition, the program to support lending to small and medium-sized businesses was expanded, as a result of which enterprises received more than 600 billion rubles on preferential terms.

In addition, to support companies during the pandemic, the authorities launched a program of concessional loans to businesses to pay salaries to employees.

According to Vladimir Putin, the total volume of the initiative amounted to about 500 billion rubles.

At the same time, the government ensured the issuance of soft loans to strategic enterprises totaling 240 billion rubles.

“During the crisis, concessional lending has become a truly important measure to support business and the population.

It should be noted that the banking system ended the year with a profit, which is also important.

Thus, the sector managed to avoid the crisis that could be observed in 2008, ”said Nikita Maslennikov.

Note that for the entire 2020, Russian banks earned 1.6 trillion rubles - just 100 billion rubles less than in 2019.

This is evidenced by the materials of the Central Bank.

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According to Vladimir Putin, one of the most popular lending instruments in 2020 was a preferential mortgage at 6.5%.

The corresponding initiative was launched in April and was originally designed for almost six months, but later the government extended its action until July 1, 2021.

You can get a loan at a reduced rate when buying 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.

“This program, launched with the support of the state, not only helped many Russian families to solve their housing problem, but also supported the construction industry, and also gave a serious incentive to the development of mortgage lending in general.

Over the past year, about 1.7 million families were able to purchase a new apartment with the help of a mortgage, and this is already 400 thousand more than a year earlier, ”said Vladimir Putin.

According to the analytical center "DOM.RF", in 2020, within the framework of the preferential mortgage program, more than 345 thousand loans were issued for more than 1 trillion rubles.

At the same time, as Anna Bodrova, a senior analyst at the Alpari information and analytical center, told RT, the program significantly helped developers during the crisis.

So, according to the Federal State Statistics Service, housing construction in Russia by the end of 2020 sank by 5.9%.

Meanwhile, according to Anna Bodrova, without the effect of preferential mortgages, the rate of decline could reach 10%.