The idea of freezing Russian deposits to fight inflation is “absurd”, it does not make economic sense, VTB director Andrei Kostin told RBC on the sidelines of the Russian-Vietnamese business dialogue in Hanoi.
Author:
https://rb.ru/author/kossakovskaya-anastasiya/
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“This has been happening for a long time, the news has been going around for several months. This is typical of people. You know, logic. I once asked: “See, this is a bit of an absurd idea?” “They tell me: “That’s why it can appear in Russia.” If you follow this logic, then of course it is possible,” Kostin said.
The banker added that he sees no reason to take such a measure and that “he has not even heard this idea from any person capable of developing ideas.” Furthermore, in his opinion, such a measure would be extremely unpopular in society.
Earlier this week, the Bank of Russia announced the absurdity of freezing depositors’ accounts. They stressed that a freeze would be a serious violation of the rights of citizens and businesses, undermining the foundations of the banking system and financial stability.
In addition, freezing deposits will not help in the fight against inflation: people may lose trust in banks for a long time, which will lead to a massive withdrawal of funds and investing them in real estate and durable goods. As a result, prices will rise, the official interest rate will cease to apply and the Bank of Russia will lose its main instrument for influencing demand and inflation, the representative of the regulator noted.
On November 19, Central Bank President Elvira Nabiullina also rejected the possibility of freezing deposits, calling it nonsense. He explained that banks offer high interest rates on deposits because of high lending rates, which are always higher than deposit rates.
The director of the Socio-Economic Research Institute, Alexey Zubets, stated that deposits could freeze in November. The head of the Financial Market Committee of the State Duma, Anatoly Aksakov, criticized the expert’s forecast and emphasized that such rumors are spread by those who are “enemies of our country” and want the destruction of the financial system.
Author:
Anastasia Kossakovskaya
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.
