Sberbank announced a decrease in foreign currency deposits

Large business reduced its deposits in foreign currencies by 17 times

The largest clients of Sberbank have reduced their foreign currency balances by 94% since the crisis began, the newspaper reports. RBC . Today, the credit institution is reorienting itself to alternative currencies, primarily Chinese yuan and Indian rupees. This is due, among other things, to the sanctions that the bank fell under.

In the first six months of 2022, the bank recorded a 17-fold decrease in foreign currency savings of large businesses on its balance sheet. According to Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of the board of the bank, from January to July, the volume of funds of the largest legal entities on deposits in foreign currency decreased by 94%.

“We have done a lot of work to reduce the volume of foreign exchange liabilities of unfriendly countries – such a restructuring of the business allows us to maintain its efficiency. Thus, from January to July 2022, the volume of funds of the largest clients kept on our foreign currency deposits decreased by 94%. At the moment, the share of funds in foreign currency in the structure of deposits of the largest clients is 4%, while at the beginning of the year this figure was 40%, ”RBC quotes Popov.

It should be noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced the need for de-dollarization. This process is inevitable, he said at a meeting on economic issues.

Recall that Sberbank, like some other Russian credit institutions, came under US sanctions at the end of February, after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. Since April 6, the sanctions have acquired the status of “blocking”. As follows from the reporting of the credit institution under RAS as of January 1, 1.82 trillion rubles, or $24.5 billion in dollar equivalent at the exchange rate as of the reporting date, were kept on foreign currency deposits of non-financial organizations (both private and state). Given the fall in the deposit base by 94% as of July 1, the balances on such accounts could be about 109 billion rubles, or $1.5 billion. Since March, Sberbank, like other Russian banks, has not disclosed regular reporting under RAS at the direction of the Central Bank.