Outflow of deposits from Russian banks exceeded one trillion rubles

As follows from the operational review of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, in October the volume of term deposits of individuals decreased by 469 billion rubles, and since the beginning of the year - by 1.154 trillion rubles.

According to the statistics of the regulator, published in the report "On the Development of the Banking Sector", as of November 1, Russians had 21.174 trillion rubles left on time deposits in banks. About 21.3% of this amount is held in foreign currency.

"The total amount of individuals' funds in banks decreased less - by 150 billion rubles, to 32.556 trillion rubles, since the outflow from deposits was partially offset by an increase in current, including card accounts - by 319 billion rubles, to 10.832 trillion rubles", - notes finanz.ru.

According to experts, the reduction in ruble deposits in October amounted to about 350 billion rubles. The total volume of ruble deposits decreased by 1.2 trillion rubles over the year, which is a record figure for the domestic banking system. In October, the accrued interest on deposits was supposed to increase ruble deposits by 70-80 billion rubles, but in reality they decreased by 350 billion rubles. A third of this amount (110 billion rubles) was spent on current accounts, 156 billion - on escrow accounts to pay the mortgage. The remaining 100 billion rubles were withdrawn from banks in cash. Amid the financial crisis, the volume of cash in circulation has grown by 3 trillion rubles since January - to a record 13 trillion by early November.

The financiers see the reason for what is happening in an unprecedented drop in deposit rates. They dropped on average to 3.9% per annum, which is lower than the inflation rate set by Rosstat at 4%. Thus, the real profitability of deposits in the country turned out to be negative. Trying to save the dwindling money, depositors rushed to look for alternative ways to save capital. Due to the outflow of deposits, banks are losing funds necessary to provide new loans to private and corporate clients, as well as to the state, in the budget of which, amid the pandemic, a "hole" of 4 trillion rubles arose.

The shortage of ruble liquidity is forcing banks to seek help from the Central Bank. In September-October, the regulator provided credit institutions with 1.2 trillion additional funds. Meanwhile, according to the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina, there is no risk of launching a printing press in Russia yet.