Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Zabotkin: the increased demand for cash in the Russian Federation is explained by the economies of new regions of the country
Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Alexei Zabotkin, during his speech at the public consultations on the Monetary Policy Review, said that the regulator lately, he has seen an increased demand for cash, which is created by the economies of new regions of the country, where cash hryvnia has ceased to be used this year.
Zabotkin emphasized that not only in April, but also since the beginning of this year, as well as in the fourth quarter of last year, the Central Bank observed a higher demand for cash than expected by the normal seasonality of these periods. He clarified that this deviation is not at all as significant as in March and September last year, and it does not create problems for the conduct of monetary policy.
According to the Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, what is happening is due to the fact that in the new regions of the Russian Federation, where non-cash payments are noticeably less common, cash is actively used. Zabotkin added that since January 1, cash hryvnia has ceased to circulate there, and all cash payments have been transferred to cash rubles, so the demand of new regions is reflected in the increased demand for cash in the Russian economy as a whole.