MOSCOW, July 30 Foreign currency deposits of individuals in Russian banks in June decreased by $1.2 billion to $48.4 billion, while since February 2022 they have halved, calculated for the basis of the data of the Central Bank, the head of the analytical department of the bank BKF Maxim Osadchiy.
“Foreign currency deposits of individuals in Russian banks in June decreased by $1.2 billion, to $48.4 billion as of July 1, 2023. In the first half of 2023, they decreased by $9.7 billion, and for the period from February 2022 from June 2023 to June 2023, their volume almost halved — by $45.5 billion, or 48.5%,» Osadchy said.
The analyst believes that the main reason for the decline in the volume of foreign currency deposits was their «half-freeze» as a result of the introduction of restrictions by the Central Bank in March last year.
The main direction of the outflow of foreign currency deposits, the analyst called their flow abroad, to deposits in foreign banks, and the second most important direction is the flow into cash. According to the latest available data, foreign currency deposits of Russians in foreign banks increased in February 2022 — May 2023 by $42.7 billion, and the volume of cash currency — by $12.5 billion.
«The Central Bank does not remove restrictions on foreign currency deposits, primarily due to the embargo on the supply of cash dollars and euros, introduced by the US and the EU, respectively. However, due to the growing popularity of the yuan, these restrictions could be weakened or even canceled in relation to friendly currencies without threatening Russia's financial stability,» Osadchy concluded.