Save not spend: Russians keep about 60 trillion rubles in deposits
According to the Central Bank of Russia, the total volume of bank deposits, deposits and other attracted funds of Russians reached Br59.3 trillion in early November. This was reported to "Izvestia" in the Ministry of Finance. Earlier it also became known that citizens refuse to save in cash rubles, and get rid of foreign currency. Izvestia found out how actively Russians save and spend their money and why.
Literacy is growing
In addition to deposits, the growth of the money supply in the financial sector is ensured by the active use of various market instruments, said the press service of the Ministry of Finance.
"Thus, since January 2024, several instruments for the formation of long-term savings, such as the Long-term Savings Program (LSP) and the Individual Investment Account of the third type (IIS 3) have been working. As of the end of November 2024, 2.3 million people had joined the LSP, and the amount of citizens' savings attracted to the LSP amounted to RUB 146 billion (of which 69 were personal funds of citizens and 77 were OPS). And in the first nine months of 2024, more than 388 thousand IIS 3 were opened, the volume of funds on them amounted to 50 billion rubles," commented the representative of the Ministry of Finance.
The growth of the instrument used for savings indicates, among other things, an increase in the level of financial literacy. The Ministry of Finance together with the Bank of Russia realizes the Strategy of increasing financial literacy and formation of financial culture until 2030. "The main task of this work," continues the interlocutor from the ministry, "is to change the financial attitudes and behavior of Russians. How a person behaves, what financial decisions he makes, depends not only on his personal well-being and savings, but also on how the financial sector and ultimately the country's economy develops."
According to the ministry's analysts, the share of citizens who kept their savings in cash at home over the past year has fallen to 30%. "At the same time, the number of those who understand the relationship between risk and profitability is growing. The share of citizens who try to make financial plans and rationally approach purchases is also increasing", - commented in the press service of the Ministry of Finance.
"Izvestia" sent requests to the Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Economic Development, as well as to the banks "T-bank", PSB, Rosbank and Alfa-bank, but at the time of publication has not received a response.
Cash is not in fashion
According to VTB, Russians keep only 15% of all money in cash, or 15.9 trillion rubles. This is a historical minimum for the last six years. In addition to this amount in rubles, Russians also own various currencies totaling $94 billion, said Georgy Gorshkov, Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB, during the 15th VTB Investment Forum "Russia Calling!". He also noted that Russians more often abandon foreign currency in favor of the ruble. Thus, in 2023 the population will get rid of $0.5 billion, in 2024 already from $3.2-3.5 billion.
Demand for deposits
According to the Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB, depositors prefer to open deposits in the national currency, as the high level of the key rate provides a record yield on such instruments. Thus, about 350 billion cash rubles will flow into bank accounts in 2024.
Alexander Abramov, Head of the Laboratory for the Analysis of Institutions and Financial Markets of the IPEI of the Presidential Academy, estimated the volume of cash in the hands of the population even higher - Br24 trillion as of September. In his opinion, this amount has not decreased significantly over the past two months.
It's not time to decline
The financial regulator gives a clear signal that the current economic situation and the level of inflation do not yet allow to reduce the key rate.
"Therefore, banks have begun to shift the maximum rates on deposits from short periods to medium-term - from six months to one year. The share of short-term deposits in VTB decreased to 13%. This indicates that customers are ready to place funds in debt. In VTB, for example, the best conditions on profitability are offered for deposits for one year", - commented "Izvestia" in the press service of VTB.
As of November 27, the portfolio of term deposits and savings accounts of Sber's clients amounted to 17.8 billion rubles, the bank's press service told the publication. "The growth amounted to 4.4 billion rubles (+33%)", - told in "Sber". According to the forecast of Sberbank analysts, this trend will continue at least until the end of the year-first quarter of 2025.
Refusing in general from toxic Western currencies, Russians use yuan for savings, points out the deputy director of the Banking Institute of Development Yulia Makarenko.
- Thus, at the moment Russians can open a deposit in yuan at 6-11% depending on the bank and conditions. There is a paradoxical situation: the prime rate in China for a year - 3.1%, for five years - 3.6%. Accordingly, the interest on deposits there is much lower, i.e. the rate in Russia is on average 3 times higher than in China itself. This is a very interesting situation, and is mainly due to the demand for this currency in the domestic Russian market," she says.
Nevertheless, according to Sovcombank analysts, the share of foreign currency deposits in 2024 compared to 2022 has strongly decreased: 7.5% vs. 20%.
At the same time, as Sovcombank's chief analyst Anna Zemlyanova noted, short deposits have become the most demanded instrument in the current environment. "The share of deposits for a term of 181 days to one year in the total volume of attracted ruble deposits in the Russian Federation amounted to 48% in September 2024 against 22% in August last year," she said.
According to the expert, the decrease in the volume of cash at the Russians primarily indicates the growth of financial literacy of the population and the growth of confidence in the banking system.
They go out for everything
Experts also note an increase in the propensity of Russians to consume, that is, to spend rather than save money. This is "an attempt to buy before the price goes up - inflation accelerates consumer appetite," says Daniil Petukhov, a candidate of economic sciences, associate professor of the Department of National Economy of the Presidential Academy.
- The volume of issuance of market mortgages at the end of September in anticipation of an increase in the key rate amounted to 373 billion rubles, which is 2.5 times lower than last year's level, and for nine months the decline amounted to 27% (year-on-year). However, this is 302 thousand disbursements, and part of them, undoubtedly, was made at the expense of such savings, - believes Yulia Makarenko.
Now Russians, contrary to the obvious call of the Bank of Russia to save money, are spending as much as possible. This is evidenced by the issuance of market mortgages, in which the interest burden reaches 43% per annum, as well as the overall growth in consumer demand, believes the head of sales and customer support department "Alfa-Forex" Alexander Shneiderman.
- Inflation expectations of Russians are high, so they tend not only to buy real estate (apartments, cottages, land plots, commercial real estate) and cars, if the savings are large, but also to change household appliances, make repairs, if the capital is small, etc. Part of savings is simply eaten up. This happens in anticipation of the expected rise in prices for goods and services, it makes no sense to postpone the purchase of which further, - says the analyst.
And according to Alexander Abramov, head of the laboratory for the analysis of institutions and financial markets of the IPEI Presidential Academy, the weakening of the ruble also played a role in reducing the amount of cash "under the cushion.
- People could sell convertible currency at a high dollar rate and put money in deposits. According to our estimates, about 90% of the money went to deposits, and 10% - to money market funds, - said the interlocutor of the publication.
