Belarusbank Raised Housing Credit Rates And Stopped Extension Of New Ones

Officials do not explain the reasons for making such decisions.

Belarusbank will not grant new housing credits until the end of the year. From November 8, the housing credit rates will go up from 13% per annum to 15%. At the same time, from the end of October, the Banking Code prohibits changing unilaterally the interest rate on credits and household deposits for the worse, Radio Svaboda reports.

According to the information on the website of Belarusbank, the acceptance of citizens’ new applications for housing credit was suspended until December 31, 2018 inclusive. It is not specified what will happen after December 31 and whether the acceptance of applications will be renewed.

The housing credit rates will go up from 13% to 15% per annum – not three percentage points, but five are added to the refinancing rate.

The reasons for such decisions are not disclosed, their compliance with the recent changes in the Banking Code (which prohibits changing unilaterally the interest rate on credits and household deposits for the worse) is not described.

Belarusbank is the largest credit owner in the country for both individuals and legal entities. According to a study by the BSU rating agency, Belarusbank accounted for 41.41% of loans to legal entities, 63.11% of loans to individuals, and 29.7% of loans to finance real estate as of January 1, 2018.

At the same time, the share of loans to individuals decreased in Belarusbank by as much as 10 percentage points in 2017 (the shares of BPS-Sberbank, Belhazprombank and Belinvestbank significantly increased).