Consumer lending is booming as Russians trade in their standard televisions for plasma home cinema systems and standard sunglasses for Gucci wraparounds. This protracted shopping binge has been encouraged by growing oil exports and record-high commodity prices trickling down to consumers: average incomes jumped by 15% last year to an average of Rbs5524 ($184), or a four-fold increase on 1998 levels.
Add to this the fact that the average Russian has no debt as utilities are cheap and most people received their apartments during the privatisation process in the early 1990s.
