Page 119 - RusRPTJun24

bank has signaled that another interest rate hike could take place at coming MPC meetings.
After trying to send their money overseas in the immediate aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, wealthy Russians are now bringing their millions back home, new data shows.
The number of high net worth individuals jumped back above pre-war levels last year, after falling in 2022. Some 22,000 wealthy Russians account for almost $150bn stashed in domestic bank accounts — around a quarter of the national total.
In 2023, the funds held by high net worth clients — defined as those with more than 100mn rubles ($1.1mn) — in Russian banks and investment companies jumped by 62% to 13.1 trillion rubles ($148bn), research from banking consultancy Frank RG showed. The number of those who qualify among the ranks of the country’s wealthiest jumped 50% to 22,000, with their combined assets accounting for 23% of Russia’s total financial capital. The cohort of super-rich banking clients, with at least $5.5mn of assets, grew even faster, up 62%.
That marks a major reversal from 2022, when capital flowed in the opposite direction. Frank RG figures for the first year of the war showed a 21% fall in the number of high-net worth individuals, and a 27% drop among the super-rich category. The combined capital they held droppedby more than 20%. A panicked transfer of funds abroad after Russia invaded, combined with the plummeting stock market and the transfer of cash into non-liquid assets such as gold and foreign property also had an impact on bank balances.
For the first time in the history of the Russian Federation, the ruble became the main currency in the country's foreign trade payments. This is evidenced by data published on the Bank of Russia website . Thus, in February, the share of the ruble in payments for Russian exports increased to 41.6%, and in imports - to 38.1%. At the same time, previously the ruble could not take up even a third of imports. At the same time, the share of the Chinese currency in export revenues decreased to 30.2%, and in payments for imports - to 32.3%. Earlier, economist Ilyas Zaripov said that the BRICS+ currency will displace the dollar from world trade. He called the reduction in the share of the American currency in settlements of the SWIFT interbank system an inevitable process.
China now settles half of its crossborder trade in renminbi, up from zero in 2010. Rise in RMB use highlights sanctions-proofing strategy of Beijing and its allies, such as Russia. China's promotion of CIPS, its homegrown alternative to Swift, may support rise in RMB use
119 RUSSIA Country Report June 2024 www.intellinews.com