ST. PETERSBURG, June 4. /TASS/. The consumer lending market will contract by around 3% in the first half of 2026, after which it is expected to be offset by comparable growth, Sberbank’s First Deputy Chairman of the Board Kirill Tsarev said in an interview with TASS.
"The consumer lending market is gradually stabilizing after a prolonged decline that began in September 2024. The rate of decline is noticeably slowing. A moderate recovery is expected in the second half of 2026: the market decline of around 3% in the first half will be offset by comparable growth in the second, and by the end of the year, the market will roughly reach the level of the end of 2025," he said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
Sberbank is already showing more positive dynamics, with its consumer loan portfolio having begun to experience recovery growth since April, Tsarev said. "By the end of the year, we expect the portfolio to grow by about 6%, which exceeds the average market rate," he added.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is taking place on June 3-6. This year’s theme is "Pragmatic Dialogue: the Path to a Stable Future." The forum program is dedicated to shaping a new model of global development amid the ongoing transformation of the world economy.
