The Bank of Russia has overhauled the methodology used to calculate repair costs under mandatory motor third-party liability insurance (OSAGO), a change the regulator says will lift average claim payments by 10%. From 11 July 2026, insurers must price spare parts without reference to analogues that are more than 70% cheaper than the original, and the average cost of consumables will be determined without discounts. Expenditure on single-use components such as seals and stickers will be reimbursed in full, removing a current cap of 2% of the value of replaced parts. The Russian Union of Auto Insurers has three months to approve updated price reference books reflecting the new rules.

Viewed from Algiers, the central bank has issued a new instruction that redefines when a loan carries an excessive interest rate. Under the previous 2016 framework, a rate was deemed excessive if it exceeded the average effective rate for similar operations in the preceding half-year by more than ten percentage points. Instruction 06-2026, signed on 29 June, cuts that margin to five percentage points. The measure applies across all credit categories—consumer, investment, housing and leasing—and uses the all-in effective global rate, which captures fees and charges beyond the nominal rate. Analysts in North Africa link the move to a broader monetary easing cycle that began in 2025, when the central bank lowered its policy rate and reduced reserve requirements, aiming to spur bank lending to businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

In Tehran, the Central Bank of Iran has approved a revised directive on large exposures and commitments of credit institutions. The new text aligns the definition of a single beneficiary with the concept of a single owner under the country’s central bank law, shifts the calculation base from base capital to Tier 1 capital for a more conservative approach, and lowers the reporting threshold from 10% of base capital to 5% of Tier 1 capital. The directive also specifies exempted exposures and updates reporting obligations. It becomes mandatory six months after its issuance.

Moscow’s regulator also adjusted the methodology for its public ranking of banks by customer complaints about lending. From now on, the indicator will count substantiated complaints lodged with both the central bank and the financial ombudsman, excluding cases under court challenge. Banks are split into two groups—those with more than three million loans and those with fewer—to improve comparability. The same approach will be extended to microfinance and insurance entities. The next factual milestones are the 11 July entry into force of Russia’s new repair-cost rules and the three-month deadline for the insurers’ union to publish the revised price guides; in Algeria, the excessive-rate instruction is already in effect, while Iran’s large-exposure directive will be enforced by the end of 2026.