The Central Bank of Russia is developing recommendations for banks on the terms of restructuring mortgage loans issued in foreign currency, Acting Director of the Banking Regulation Department of the Central Bank Alexander Zhdanov said at a meeting of a special working group in the State Duma, writes . Izvestia

Zhdanov noted that the Bank of Russia is also thinking about the exchange rate at which the restructuring of foreign currency mortgages can take place. The first deputy chairman of the department, Alexey Simonovsky, also said in a letter addressed to the State Duma that the Central Bank is creating conditions for restructuring foreign currency mortgages “at a reasonable rate,” which meets the interests of both borrowers and banks. However, earlier the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, Ksenia Yudaeva, said at the Gaidar Forum that the regulator would not help foreign currency borrowers due to the fall of the ruble.

According to the Bank of Russia, citizens' debt on foreign currency mortgages as of November 1 amounted to 117 billion rubles, that is, 3.5% of all mortgage loans. For many mortgage borrowers, the amount of remaining debt exceeded the amount of the loan taken out, although they carefully paid it off for several years (60% of such borrowers took out loans in 2007–2008).

Some banks themselves offered such borrowers a temporary preferential exchange rate when repaying the loan. For example, HKF Bank offered payment on a foreign currency mortgage at an exchange rate of 45 rubles. per dollar, Absolut Bank - 39 rubles. for a dollar. The possibility of a preferential rate is also being considered by the Bank of Moscow.

A bill on restructuring foreign currency mortgages is being prepared by the State Duma, and it will be introduced in the coming days, said Andrei Krutov, chairman of the special parliamentary working group. According to his estimates, about 25% of foreign currency borrowers are no longer able to service loans and may soon lose their housing.

Parliamentarians propose, when a borrower applies, to oblige banks to convert a foreign currency loan into rubles within 30 days at the exchange rate on the day the agreement was concluded with an interest rate of 12.2% per annum (weighted average interest rate on mortgage loans for 2014). Credit institutions will be prohibited from collecting any commissions during this restructuring or demanding collection from housing debtors.

The Central Bank is preparing recommendations for banks on restructuring foreign currency mortgages