Deposits were shredded – Newspaper Kommersant No. 33 (7478) of 02/22/2023

In 2022, the amount of funds of individuals on accounts and deposits in Russian banks increased, but the average amount remained at the level of the previous year, falling short of 300 thousand rubles. In the last turbulent year, the structure of bank depositors changed – wealthy clients often left, and less wealthy individuals took their place. At the same time, at the end of the year there was a symbolic increase in the share of foreign currency deposits. However, experts are not inclined to expect a significant increase in their share, although citizens remain interested in foreign currency savings.

According to the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) review of the deposit market published on Tuesday, February 21, the total amount of insured deposits and funds on settlement accounts of the population (excluding escrow accounts) as of January 1, 2023 amounted to 36.56 trillion rubles. This is 75.1% of the total funds of individuals in banks. Over the year, the volume of insured deposits increased by 6.8%. The number of citizens whose deposits in banks are subject to insurance (having accounts simultaneously in several banks; the corresponding number of times is taken into account) amounted to 250 million individuals.

Thus, as of January 1, 2023, the average amount of depositor’s funds placed in one bank (excluding depositors with account balances up to 1 thousand rubles) amounted to 275 thousand rubles for individuals.

Compared to the previous year, the size of the average contribution of citizens has not changed. In 2021, this figure was at the level of 273 thousand rubles. A year earlier, the size of the average deposit increased by 50% – from 183 thousand rubles. at the end of 2020.

According to Evgeny Nadorshin, Chief Economist at PF Capital, maintaining the average deposit check at the level of 2021 is understandable. “Against the background of SVO, many wealthy citizens withdrew funds from deposits and from the country,” he explains. “At the same time, with the start of mobilization and payments to its participants, new depositors appeared, but with smaller amounts of checks.” Confirm this version and the data of the Central Bank, set out last week. In 2022, the volume of money transfers from citizens to non-resident banks almost tripled (from RUB 2.27 trillion to RUB 6.63 trillion). The DIA materials also indicate that the largest deposits of individuals – in the amount of more than 10 million rubles – decreased by 0.6% in amount, while increasing by 3.3% in number. As of the beginning of 2023, they accounted for 28.5% of the total amount of deposits of individuals.

In addition, based on the DIA data, the share of insured foreign currency deposits of the population in the last quarter of 2022 stopped falling. At the beginning of 2022, it was 19.9%, according to the results of the third quarter, it dropped to 10.5%, but in the fourth quarter it showed an increase, albeit symbolic, to 10.6%. However, according to experts, it is premature to talk not only about a trend reversal, but even about fixing at the current level. “There are no grounds for the growth of foreign currency deposits in 2023. The devaluation course continues. Opening deposits in alternative currencies can only somewhat slow down the net decline in the total share of foreign currency deposits, but it is unlikely to fully compensate for the closure of deposits and accounts in US dollars and euros,” said Yury Belikov, managing director of the Expert RA rating agency. Of course, those who used to make savings on the principle of “not only rubles” turned their attention to the yuan, says Alexei Tarapovsky, founder of Anderida Financial Group. Mikhail Doronkin, managing director of the NKR rating agency, believes that the increase in the share of foreign currency deposits is probably due to their revaluation on the balance sheets of banks against the backdrop of a noticeable depreciation of the ruble in the fourth quarter of last year (by about 27% against the dollar from October 1 to December 31). The influx of ruble funds into accounts in December made it possible to partially neutralize this effect, he points out.

Speaking about the prospects, most likely, growth will continue, but at the expense of the currencies of friendly countries. First of all, at the expense of the yuan and the Hong Kong dollar, as an option. Even now, every tenth Russian who makes savings is ready to transfer part of his savings into this currency, while only every twentieth makes a bet on the dollar, Mr. Tarapovsky notes. At the same time, according to the Central Bank, the share of the yuan in the structure of foreign exchange savings of Russian citizens in 2022 reached 11%.

Ksenia Dementieva, Olga Sherunkova, Polina Trifonova