Forget about dollars and euros: the Central Bank and banks stepped up devaluation

Yekaterina Maksimova

As the regulator clarifies, the withdrawal of cash credited to a foreign currency account or a client’s deposit from 00:00 on September 9, 2022, will be carried out in rubles at the bank’s exchange rate. Simply put, the exchange of currency for rubles in this case is untied from the exchange rate.

The bulk of clients of Russian banks (not among the premium ones), who will have "toxic" currency on their accounts from today, will have to prepare for an extremely unfavorable exchange rate for dollars and euros for rubles.

For example, as of September 9, the ruble has again slightly strengthened, the dollar is trading at around 60.6 rubles on Friday, follows from the data of the Moscow Exchange. If you change the currency right today and precisely at bank rates, then the difference in the dollar / ruble pair will be from 4-5 and even 6 rubles (depending on the rate set for September 9 by a particular bank).

“An ordinary person will lose in any case when changing the rules for issuing cash from foreign currency accounts and deposits. The Central Bank has long been sending a clear signal that the ruble, ruble deposits and the stock market are now the main instruments”, - said Alexander Razuvaev, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Guild of Financial Analysts and Risk Managers.

As a rule, when exchanging currencies, there are several rates. The lowest is traditionally formed in the exchange offices of banks. It is a little more profitable to change money through online banking applications. And there are situations when banks set their own rate (as close as possible to the exchange rate) for premium clients. As a rule, these are owners of securities, foreign currency accounts and deposits with amounts from six zeros.

Before the decision of the Central Bank, which further reduces the attractiveness of the "toxic" currency, bank customers used a different scheme. Currency credited from March 9 to September 9, 2022 is also issued in rubles at the bank's rate, but the amount must not be less than that calculated at the official rate of the Central Bank (on the day of payment).

The Central Bank, we recall, since the spring has limited the issuance of "toxic" currency to the Russians. Citizens can withdraw from their foreign currency accounts opened before March 9, 2022, no more than 10 thousand US dollars or the equivalent of this amount in euros, and funds in excess of this amount can only be received in rubles. On Thursday, August 8, the regulator extended the ban on the collection of bank fees when individuals issue foreign currency from deposits or accounts. Locked on commission extended until March 9, 2023.