The Russian Central Bank has published its updated data according to which as of 1 February Russian citizens had $105.4 billion (7.33 trillion rubles) in cash, the report was published on the bank’s website.
This is an all-time record posted since 2018 when this statistics became publicly available, reports RBC. It is noted that the threshold of $100 billion was passed back in October, but it became known only now, as the Central Bank clarified the figures as of 1 February “by obtaining additional information on the statistics of the external sector”.
The increase in cash in circulation in the country, which has placed restrictions on its withdrawal from bank accounts, means that the import of banknotes exceeded the export, Egor Susin, managing director at Gazprombank Private Banking, explains.
Earlier, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that by 1 November Russians had accumulated 4.1 trillion rubles in foreign bank accounts. According to the exchange rate of the Central Bank at the time, this amount in US dollars was 66.4 billion. This figure was also a record since 2018.
At the same time, the amount of funds Russians had in foreign currency accounts and deposits in Russian banks as of 1 November had fallen below $60 billion, the lowest number in a decade.
The Russian Central Bank has limited the possibility of withdrawing money from foreign currency deposits since the Ukraine war began. Only up to $10,000 can be withdrawn, while the rest is converted into rubles at the official rate of the Bank of Russia.
In addition, some banks, in particular, Tinkoff Bank, Raiffeisenbank, Rosbank and Uralsib, introduced a fee for servicing accounts in dollars and euros.
