Competition to capture retail customers and lend them money is red hot. So far, Russians have a good record for repaying their loans on time and in full but some analysts are worried that a tidal wave of bad consumer debts is on its way. To head off a potential crisis, the government has introduced credit bureaux to keep defaults down – but has botched the implementation.
State-owned retail giant Sberbank estimates that deposits reached $68bn by December, up 200%, whereas its consumer loans were $20bn, up 400% and accounting for half the market.
