Russians’ interest in finance increased by 29.8 percent in 2023. This is stated in a study by the Pressfeed journalistic query service (available from socialbites.ca). According to the service, the top 5 issues that worry Russians the most include mortgages, loans, exchange rates, the increase in interest rates of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the use of UnionPay and Mir cards abroad. Experts reached this conclusion based on the most popular media requests.
While 2,403 requests from journalists on financial matters were published for January-September 2023, this number was 1,851 in the same period last year.
Journalists covering the mortgage issue wrote that there was an increase in the down payment on housing loans, an increase in interest rates, the removal of discounts in privileged programs, the preservation of such programs, temporary restrictions on banks’ acceptance of mortgage applications and a record increase in housing loans. granting a housing loan.
The requests were also about the return of the ruble exchange rate to last year’s highest level – 120 rubles per dollar, the impact of the exchange rate on the cost of goods, services, real estate, ruble exchange rate forecasts and the digital ruble.
Covering the issue of the key rate, journalists reported how it will affect prices, the real estate market, the ruble exchange rate and deposit and loan rates.
Journalists wrote about how the increase in the credit burden will affect the solvency of the population, how likely it is that the issuance of consumer loans will be temporarily limited, how interest rates will react to changes in the key interest rate and what will happen to the demand for loans. loans.
The media also asked about some banks’ restrictions on the ability of UnionPay cards to work abroad, the working conditions of Mir cards, the ban on Russians from trading in any currency other than rubles on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange.
“Working in line with journalistic requests from experts, we see that the media’s interest in financial issues is high and a record number of news on this topic will appear in 2023,” said Eleonora Pakhomova, Deputy General Manager of Strategic Communications at Pressfeed.
The study was conducted in September 2023.
Previously “socialbites.ca” saidHow did the increase in the Central Bank interest rate affect deposits and loans?