Russians expect cheaper loans for up to six months after the Central Bank rate cut

Russian banks raise consumer loan rates much faster following an increase in the Central Bank's key rate than they lower them after monetary policy easing. This is the conclusion reached by analysts of the financial marketplace "Compare".

According to a study reviewed by Izvestia on May 31, the average loan rate begins to decrease markedly only 5-6 months after the start of the key rate reduction cycle by the Bank of Russia. At the same time, the increase in the cost of loans occurs almost immediately after the regulator's rate increase, and sometimes even before the official decision of the Central Bank against the background of market expectations.

"Banks quickly put an increase in the value of money into credit products, as this directly affects the marginality and cost of raising funds. Because bank funding becomes more expensive almost instantly. When the key rate is lowered, the process is slower: banks have quite a large number of deposits in their portfolios that were opened during the high key rate period," notes Igor Korchagin, head of the Credit Rating product at Compare.

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According to the study, in the first quarter of 2024, the average interest rate on cash loans was 33.3%, and by the end of 2025 it had increased to 50.7%. The indicator peaked in November 2025 at 52.9% per annum, despite the fact that the cycle of reducing the key rate had already been going on for several months.

The Bank of Russia began reducing its key rate in June 2025, but banks began significantly reducing the cost of loans only in November. By this time, the key rate had already decreased by 5.5 percentage points. After November 2025, loan rates began to decrease more actively, but since March 2026, this process has practically stopped. Analysts attribute this to a slowdown in the pace of monetary policy easing by the Central Bank.

Experts note that such an asymmetry remains a stable model of market behavior: banks quickly shift the increase in the cost of money to borrowers, but are much slower to transfer to customers the effect of lowering the key interest rate.

Denis Sochnev, Managing partner of <url>, said on April 23 that a dangerous loan often begins to manifest itself already at the stage of familiarization with the contract. He stressed that if the terms of the contract are worded in a confusing way, it means that a person actually assumes obligations without fully understanding their content.