Cash assistant: the volume of cash in circulation jumped by 240 billion in a week
The volume of cash in circulation increased dramatically in early April, jumping by 240 billion rubles amid mobile Internet outages. As of April 10, the figure reached 19.85 trillion rubles, Izvestia found out. Russians are increasingly using cash as a backup payment method: interruptions with cards and online services force customers and businesses to keep some of their money in cash. How the situation affects the control over the turnover of funds and whether the authorities plan to deal with it against the background of the whitewashing of the economy — in the material of Izvestia.
Cash went up amid Internet outages
In the first week of April, the volume of cash in circulation jumped by almost a quarter of a trillion rubles, experts calculated for Izvestia based on data from the Central Bank.
The monetary base in a narrow definition for the week from April 3 to April 10 increased by 240 billion rubles, to 20.34 trillion rubles. This is a record since the beginning of the year, according to the data from the Bank of Russia.
This indicator consists of cash in circulation and mandatory reserves of banks in the Central Bank. The latter, according to the regulator, accounted for only 495 billion as of April 1. Moreover, this indicator hardly changes — it remained at the level of 453 billion throughout March. That is, the total amount of cash in circulation on April 10 was about 19.85 trillion rubles.
"The growth of the monetary base in a narrow definition by 240 billion rubles actually occurred mainly due to cash," confirmed Andrei Krylov, senior analyst at Sovcombank.
The monetary base consists almost entirely of cash, so such a noticeable weekly jump is due to an increase in cash turnover, rather than bank reserves, agreed Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global.
In general, in the period from April 1 to April 17, 2026, about 470 billion rubles worth of cash were released from banks into circulation, Alexey Voylukov, MBA professor of business practice in digital finance at the RANEPA, calculated based on data from the Central Bank. According to the regulator's statistics, sometimes this figure could exceed 50 billion rubles per day. This indicates a high growth rate of cash in circulation.
In general, Russians began to withdraw cash more actively at the beginning of 2026. But in the spring, the demand for them increased further. In March, the volume of cash in circulation jumped by 300 billion rubles, Izvestia previously reported.
The Bank of Russia has already indicated that the increase in demand for cash in March could be due to mobile Internet outages, Vladimir Chernov recalled. In surveys conducted by the regulator, citizens also noted that they withdraw money, including in case non-cash payment is unavailable.
Communication outages were recorded in different regions, including major cities and the capital, Alexey Voylukov noted. During such periods, mobile banks and terminals were unstable, so some payments were temporarily transferred to cash.
At the same time, the trend itself began to form even earlier, the expert recalled. At the end of the summer of 2025, banks increased anti-fraud controls: more transactions were considered suspicious, and transfers and accounts were blocked more often. Because of this, some citizens began to perceive non-cash transactions as less predictable.
The trend was really noticeable back in the second half of 2025, Andrei Krylov from Sovcombank agreed.
An additional factor was changes in the tax burden for businesses, Alexey Voylukov added. In some segments of small businesses, interest in cash payments has increased, sometimes with discounts. It also supported the demand for the cache from consumers.
The cash reserve makes it possible to reduce the risks of temporary blocking of funds on accounts, which is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses, added Vasily Kutyin, Director of Analytics at Ingo Bank.
How can the authorities control the cash flow
Tracking cash turnover is much more difficult than monitoring online transactions, Alexey Voylukov emphasized. If money does not pass through the banking system, its movement can only be assessed indirectly.
The growing share of cash payments for businesses has a dual effect, said Pavel Zholobov, Senior Director of Financial Institutions Ratings at the NRA Rating Service. On the one hand, this reduces acquisition costs and helps to work in case of failures, on the other hand, it complicates accounting and increases the risks of claims from tax authorities.
An increase in the volume of cash in circulation does not mean an automatic growth of the shadow sector, said Vladimir Chernov. However, the transparency of operations is really decreasing as the digital footprint disappears. The authorities planned to reduce the use of cash according to the whitewashing plan of the economy.
According to Valeria Popova, senior analyst at Rikom-Trust, a decrease in the share of cash payments is possible due to a set of measures taken by the authorities.:
- introduction of limits on cash transactions. The authorities are already discussing a bill to limit cash deposits through ATMs to 1 million rubles per month, as previously reported by Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev.;
- strengthening financial monitoring. The Russian Federation may tighten control over large cash transactions and require confirmation of the origin of money.;
- stricter liability for non-compliance with the rules of cash turnover;
- the development of incentives for non—cash payments - through the expansion of the payment infrastructure, the improvement of loyalty programs and the introduction of the digital ruble. All this will make such operations more convenient and profitable for citizens and businesses.
However, the introduction of these measures requires a cautious approach: excessive pressure can create inconvenience for conscientious users and even lead to an increase in the shadow sector, Valeria Popova emphasized.
Despite the increase in the volume of cash in circulation, it is premature to talk about the return of the economy to cash payments, Vladimir Chernov added. By the end of 2025, the share of non-cash payments in retail turnover reached 88%. At the same time, the volume of cache operations, on the contrary, decreased.
— Against the background of communication disruptions, citizens began to keep cash with them more often and use it as a backup payment method, but not as a new basic standard of consumption, — explained Vladimir Chernov.
Nevertheless, paper money retains its role due to its universal properties, said Tatyana Zhukova, a representative of Zenit Bank. They remain a liquid and anonymous tool, which is especially important in the face of disruptions, cyber attacks or other crisis situations.
According to Izvestia experts, against the background of the whitewashing of the economy, the demand for cash may grow by 2-3 trillion rubles during the year.
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