MOSCOW, January 26 (RAPSI) – The Central Bank of Russia has recommended that banks review the terms of foreign currency mortgages issued before January 1, 2014 to adjust the exchange rate to October 1, 2014 (about 40 rubles to the dollar), Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily reports on Monday.

Bank clients who did not pay off their foreign currency mortgages by the fall of 2014 have been badly affected by the rapid growth of the dollar against the Russian national currency, which doubled by the end of 2014.

On January 23, the Central Bank of Russia recommended that the banks consider restructuring foreign currency mortgage loans to the exchange rate when the dollar cost 39.40 rubles, or the official exchange rate set by the regulator for October 1, 2014. The Central Bank also recommended that lenders adjust interest on foreign currency mortgage loans issued before January 1, 2015 to that of ruble loans.

Ksenia Yudayeva, first deputy governor of the Central Bank, said on January 14 that the regulator was not authorized to help those who took out foreign currency mortgage loans. She referred to the law on the bankruptcy of private individuals and also suggested that they seek the assistance of the financial ombudsman. Yudayeva said that barely 2 percent of borrowers took out mortgages in foreign currency and that banks had stopped issuing foreign currency loans.