ALEXEI VEDEV: “THE COUNTRY IS RUNNING UP A MASSIVE DEBT”

Dr. Alexei Vedev, Head of the Financial Studies Department at the Gaidar Institute, commented to MK.ru on the issue of the growing number of debt-ridden Russians.

As the expert noted, "the 2008 debt crisis in the U.S. originated in the market of high-risk mortgages: Americans massively reissued "short" mortgages to "long" ones, respectively, at a higher interest rate. Today in Russia, it is much the same story. Households are finding it increasingly difficult to make interest payments (about Rb3 trillion a year) against the backdrop of increased uncertainty - economic, financial, geopolitical".

In general, according to Alexei Vedev, people follow two strategies. "As a rule, they take new loans when there are not enough funds to cover the old ones or when they underestimate their salary capacity. In the second case, borrowers take a conscious risk: constantly re-lending, they try to play on rising interest rates. As a result, despite the Central Bank's tightening of monetary policy, a huge debt clod is forming in the country".