By the end of 2023, the increase in cash in the hands of Russians approached 2 trillion rubles. The indicator did not reach the 2022 level of 2.28 trillion rubles, as the increase in the main interest rate caused a reversal of the trend in the fall.
As RBC reports, citing statistics from the Bank of Russia, as of December 1 the amount of cash in the hands of Russians amounted to 17.91 trillion rubles. On December 28, the cash increase amounted to another 374.7 billion rubles.
The increase in cash in circulation at the end of 2023 could amount to about 1.94 trillion rubles, which is comparable to, but falls short of, 2.28 trillion rubles in 2022.
In January-August, the outflow of Russian savings in cash exceeded 2 trillion rubles, but in September the trend reversed. Over the three autumn months, the volume of cash in circulation decreased by 446.9 billion rubles.
In July, the Bank of Russia began a monetary policy tightening cycle, and in mid-December the key rate rose to 16% from 7.5% annually at the beginning of the year.
“Since the fall, a steady decrease in the volume of cash in circulation has begun, associated with an increase in deposit rates,” Managing Director of Gazprombank Private Banking Egor Susin told RBC.
By 2024, the specialist predicts a record growth rate of cash in circulation due to high interest rates on deposits in banks. At the same time, he points out the “negligible potential for further compression” of the share of cash in the ruble money supply, since it is already “at historic lows.”
Author:
Akhmed Sadulayev
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
