They are already requiring information about the sources of ruble income
This week the ruble exchange rate began to strengthen against the dollar and the euro. The dollar is already quoted at less than 94 rubles, the euro at less than 100 rubles. But this is on the stock exchange. We found out how things are in bank exchange offices. It turned out that financial organizations have in practice tightened the rules for purchasing dollars and euros.
Photo: newtimes .kz
The strengthening of the ruble did not encourage Russians, who postponed exchange transactions, in anticipation of a more acceptable rate, to rush to exchange offices for foreign currency. The MK correspondent has never encountered a large number of people wanting to buy dollars or euros. But, as it turned out, the absence of rush demand does not mean that any citizen can easily come to any bank and buy the required amount.
The range of negative answers to my question “are there dollars or euros?” was big. And if large state banks were ready to sell us currency, warning that “by the evening there may be no money left,” then smaller commercial banks and their exchange offices refused, albeit under very unusual pretexts.
— So far there are both dollars and euros in the cash register,” says the teller of one of the state banks and continues. – You can buy it for a hundred thousand rubles. One hundred dollar bills available.
— You must understand that there may not be currency by that time. A person may come in after you and immediately buy all the currency available in the cash register.
— Not today. So if you definitely decide to buy currency tomorrow, we can now order the required amount for you.
I am moving a branch of another, small commercial bank in the neighborhood. The dollar selling rate at 13:00 is 98, the euro is 101.7.
— Now we will clarify. Only we have old-style dollars. Are you satisfied?
— In some countries this currency is not accepted. And if you buy 100 thousand rubles right now, then I need to approve this operation. We have restrictions in place since October 23rd. I need to call the main office, where they will tell me whether we can sell you, say, a thousand dollars or not.
— Not to you. It’s just that the limit may be exceeded in our offices. Therefore, they set restrictions.
— Yes.
— Now everything is done in the moment. If you want to buy a certain amount right now, then I call the bank and they approve it or refuse it. And this, unfortunately, does not depend on the amount. Even if you want to buy 100 dollars. This needs to be agreed upon. There are refusals.
At another exchange office they asked me… for a certificate of the origin of my ruble money.
— Do you have a certificate? We have this amount now, but I can’t say what will happen in the evening. But in any case, documents can be checked for about a day. And one more thing: our currency is not new.
— Very little in stock, I may not get the amount you need.
Experts previously warned that if suddenly Russians will begin to show increased demand for dollars and euros, then, naturally, in the short term, the exchange rate against the ruble may jump by 10 percent. The banks themselves, for example, seeing increased demand, may raise the exchange rate, although not for long. But even if there is a surge in consumer demand, it will not last long. Individuals do not have enough free money for the rush to continue for a long time.
Meanwhile, it became known that Russians have sharply reduced purchases of foreign currency. In the second quarter of 2023, the volume of net purchases of foreign currency by citizens amounted to 62 billion, compared to 256 billion in the first quarter. This is reported in the “Review of key indicators of professional participants in the securities market”, published on the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. However, now we are already in the third quarter, and the situation on the foreign exchange market is changing quickly…