The expert assessed the impact of the key rate cut on the Russian car market

Reducing the key rate to 15.5% in the current situation may mean that automakers will be able to reduce the amount of support they send to subsidize rates. Konstantin Boldyrev, head of business development for B2C lending at Avito Avto, told Izvestia about this on February 13.

In other words, companies will reduce the amount of discounts and their own subsidies on car loans, allowing customers to borrow at a lower interest rate. In conditions of a high key interest rate, which makes loans very expensive, automakers pay banks extra from their own funds to offer the buyer, for example, a "car loan at 5-10%" when the market rate exceeded 20%.

"In the new car market, loan conditions are largely determined by the balance of supply and demand. In autumn, demand was increased amid expectations of increased recycling. Many brands have sold out a significant part of their warehouses, and the market entered the new year in a more favorable position than a year ago," Boldyrev said.

As for the secondary car market, lending there depends on the volume of dealer business. The double-digit rate holds it back due to the expensive working capital and the level of loan approval, the expert explained.

"Increasingly, a certificate of income is required to confirm the feasibility of a loan, because the sources available to regulators do not always show the full picture of citizens' incomes. Therefore, car loans in this segment are affected not only by the rate, but also by regulatory requirements," the specialist said.

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The Central Bank of the Russian Federation lowered its key rate to 15.5% per annum on February 13. The regulator noted that the Russian economy continues to return to a balanced growth trajectory. They stressed that the acceleration of price growth in January was due to one-time factors, and after their exhaustion, inflation will begin to decline again.

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