Page 75 - RusRPTDec23

8.1.3 Deposits
The funds of legal entities in October remained nearly unchanged, with a slight increase of 0.1 trillion rubles, which is a 0.2% rise. This weak dynamics was due to significant tax payments, including the quarterly tax on additional income of oil and gas companies, amounting to approximately 0.6 trillion rubles. There was an inflow into ruble accounts, totaling 150 billion rubles, which is a 0.4% increase.
Balances in foreign currency decreased slightly, with a decrease of 0.4 billion US dollars, equivalent to 42 billion rubles in ruble terms, representing a 0.4% decline. This decrease may have been partially influenced by the requirement for the sale of foreign currency earnings, which came into effect in October.
The growth of funds held by the population in October accelerated slightly compared to September, increasing to 1.4% from 1.0%.
Residents saw an increase in their ruble balances by 650 billion rubles, which is a 1.8% rise. During this time, citizens actively placed their funds into time deposits, with an increase of 914 billion rubles, representing a 3.9% growth, while balances in current accounts decreased by 264 billion rubles, a 2.0% decrease. Time deposits became more attractive for the population due to rising interest rates, reaching 12.04% at the end of October (compared to 10.19% at the end of September) after the key rate was increased (by 4.5 percentage points) in August and September to 13%. On October 30, 2023, it was further increased by 2 percentage points to 15%. Time deposits with maturities between three months and one year gained the most popularity, while deposits with maturities of less than three months and over one year decreased.
Funds in foreign currency continued to decrease, with a reduction of 0.6 billion US dollars, equivalent to 58 billion rubles in ruble terms, a 1.4% decrease.
In October, the growth of funds in escrow accounts slowed down to a more moderate 200 billion rubles (3.8%) from the record high of 403 billion rubles (8.3%) in September. This is related to a significant increase in the number of disclosed accounts, preliminarily rising to 434 billion from 253 billion rubles, due to the accelerated completion of projects towards the end of the year. Additionally, there was a slight decrease in demand in the primary market, primarily due to higher minimum down payments for preferential mortgage programs and stricter lending conditions
75 RUSSIA Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com