The volume of cash in circulation in Russia through banks increased by 366.9 billion rubles in April. This is reported by RBC with reference to the data of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
According to the regulator, this is the sharpest outflow of funds into cash since the beginning of the year, and April figures are comparable to those for June last year (391.8 billion rubles), when restrictions were lifted in the country after the first wave of coronavirus.
According to experts interviewed by the publication, the growth of the volume of cash could be influenced by the long weekend in May and the general uncertainty in the economy due to foreign policy risks.
“When there are no working days between the May holidays, there is a certain increased demand for cash, although the banking system works,” explained Yegor Susin, head of the strategy development center of Gazprombank.
Head of the Skolkovo Financial Technologies Research Center – NES Yegor Krivosheya, in turn, drew attention to the resolution of the European Parliament, which contained a call to disconnect Russia from SWIFT.
“Despite the fact that these risks may not materialize, the appearance of these news in the information space creates consumer expectations and can affect the demand for cash,” the expert explained.
On April 28, the European Parliament published a draft resolution proposing to disconnect Russia from the international SWIFT system and abandon oil and gas “if the aggression in Ukraine continues.”
In turn, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov noted that Moscow would quickly find an alternative to SWIFT if it showed its unreliability. The Kremlin spokesman stressed that it is time for other states to understand that Russia is a self-sufficient and strong country.