Evgeny Goryunov, Head of Monetary Policy Department at the Gaidar Institute, expressed his opinion that self-banning of loans, which has already been imposed by 10 mn Russians, is beneficial for banks. In a commentary for RTVI he noted that such a measure helps improve the quality of loan portfolios and reduce risks.
"I don’t expect any significant negative changes in the credit market due to introducing self-dealing, and perhaps there will be some positive effects. Actually, we don’t know, but it is most likely that people facing unstable financial situations who want to be disciplined in this way (apparently, about 50% of all „self-banning“ people are those who already have multiple loans), or those who are fearing to fall victim to scammers (for example, older people) resort to such self-banning. In any case, in terms of banks, the practice of self-restraint is useful as it improves the bank’s loan portfolio. It is absolutely uneconomical for a bank to grant a loan to a borrower who has a large debt load and is looking for opportunities to re-credit, because such a loan has a high risk of becoming problematic. If a borrower gets a loan influenced by fraudsters, it will also be problematic for the bank, as such a borrower will not always want to repay the loan and is not always capable financially. Thus, this is also a problem for banks. If the number of such loans declines, it is only to the benefit of credit organizations", said the expert.