The amount of cash in the hands of citizens and at the cash desks of enterprises in the first quarter of 2021 decreased by 0.7%, which amounted to 13.3 trillion rubles.
According to the Bank of Russia data, cited by RIA Novosti on April 30, in the same period of 2020, the amount increased by 5.2%. The highest growth in cash in circulation came at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (as of March 2020), when the amount of cash in circulation in the country increased by 6.9%.
“This growth was associated with the” run on banks “due to the collapse of the ruble and the fear of the population of the epidemic, as well as because of the announcement of the introduction of a tax on deposits,” – explained the head of the analytical department of the bank BKF Maxim Osadchiy.
He believes that such an increase in cash in circulation created a monetary overhang, exerting a powerful inflationary pressure, but due to a decrease in the real disposable income of the Russian population, the growth has stopped. This creates the preconditions for reducing inflation, added Osadchiy.
According to the regulator, the same surge in cash demand is not expected in 2021 that was observed in the period of 2020.
On January 30, the asset manager of BCS World of Investments, Andrey Rusetsky, said that the money lying at home would inevitably depreciate. According to him, if cash is withdrawn from circulation, then it is not they that generate income.