The banking system in Russia is facing a fifth consecutive month of cash withdrawals increase, according to data published by the Central Bank of Russia and quoted by Interfax.
Only in the month of June, the volume of money in circulation increased by nearly 450 billion rubles, 18% more than in May.
In total, from February to June, the population and companies withdrew almost 1.9 trillion rubles from banks. The largest wave of withdrawals was recorded in April.
The director of the rating agency “Expert RA”, Yuri Belikov, states that a stable trend of transforming economies into cash is taking shape. According to him, companies resort to cash payments due to increasing taxes, and citizens prefer to keep liquid money for fear of potential interruptions of the internet and digital services.