Real consumer credit rates fell by 5 percentage points in a month.

The average level of the full cost of loans (the CPI includes not only the rate, but also all additional costs of the borrower — insurance and fees) decreased by 5 percentage points before the Central Bank meeting on the key rate on April 25, according to data from the websites of major banks (Izvestia studied them). Now the indicator is at 35%, although by the end of March it reached 40%.

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During the month, 11 banks out of the top 15 adjusted real rates. The minimum cost of loans for the month decreased by 1 percentage point, to 28.3% — these are, on average, the most favorable conditions currently offered by banks, Izvestia found out. The maximum is 42%.

Banks are waiting for the start of the key rate reduction cycle in the second half of 2025, so they have already begun to gradually reduce rates on all types of products, said Yuri Belikov, managing director of the Expert RA rating agency.

"At the beginning of the year, it was assumed that the Bank of Russia would raise its key rate if it did not see a steady decline in inflation, but now such a scenario is no longer being considered seriously, it is extremely unlikely," he said.

However, there is still no talk of lowering the key rate at the next meeting, which will be held on April 25, experts say. The market expects the Central Bank to soften the signal on Friday, said the head of the expert analytics department "Banks.ru" by Inna Soldatenkova. They adjust the conditions in advance in order to attract consumer demand earlier than others and not lose the competition.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Interest rates have run away: loans have sharply fallen in price