Page 102 - RusRPTOct22

8.1.3 Deposits
Due to legal entities increased by 4.5%5 (+1.7 trillion rubles), while only ruble balances grew (+2.1 trillion rubles, +6.9%), while foreign currency balances continued to decline (- 5.3bn US dollars, or -325bn rubles in ruble left equivalent, -3.7%).
Funds flowed in from companies across a wide range of industries, but more than half of the increase came from companies in the oil and gas industry, partly due to the accumulation of funds to pay taxes in September, as well as high energy prices.
Household funds increased slightly in August (+32bn rubles, +0.1%), probably due to the above mentioned seasonal expenses. At the same time, foreign currency accounts continue to shrink (-3.0bn US dollars, or -185bn rubles in ruble terms, -4.3%), presumably due to partial conversion into rubles, which supports the growth of ruble balances ( +217bn rubles, +0.7%).
The flow of funds from ruble term deposits (-96bn rubles, -0.5%) to current accounts (+313bn rubles, +3.4%) also continues, which is associated with a decrease in deposit rates - the average maximum rate on ruble left deposits fell to 6.847 from 6.93% at the end of July.
The growth of household funds in escrow accounts accelerated to 1.7% (+66bn rubles) after 1.3% in July on the back of growing housing sales, including through mortgages in the primary market.
State funds decreased by 0.5 trillion rubles. (-6.7%) due to a decrease in the volume of placements in banks by the Federal Treasury, probably due to the need to carry out increased government spending, as well as a reduction in budget revenues (including from income tax). At the same time, banks increased their borrowings from the Bank of Russia by a comparable amount (+0.5 trillion rubles, +19.5%).
Since the launch of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 21% of Russians have stated a reduction in their savings, RBC business portal reported citing a survey by the VTsIOM (VCIOM) pollster.
At the same time, 39% of respondents did not see any significant changes in their wealth, while 34% admitted that they did not have any savings even before the war in Ukraine.
According to the survey, most sensitive to the changes in the external
102 RUSSIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com