In the first nine months of 2022, Russians withdrew more than $30 billion abroad, which was an absolute record in the entire history of monitoring such statistics by the Bank of Russia. It is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the data of the regulator.
In September, there were peak values - $ 6.7 billion. Analysts attribute such a surge to the announced mobilization and a new wave of emigration from Russia. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Russians have significantly stepped up the withdrawal of funds abroad. In February alone, about $4.3 billion was withdrawn from the country; in the future, this figure dropped sharply, but only due to the currency restrictions that the regulator introduced (a ban on withdrawing more than $5,000 per month, a ban on withdrawing cash, etc.).
Tough measures of the Central Bank were able to temporarily contain the outflow of funds from Russia: in March, citizens transferred only $1.7 billion to foreign bank accounts, in April even less – $1.4 billion, but since May the volumes have begun to grow again – $1.7 billion. strict restrictions provoked a sharp surge in the withdrawal of funds: in June, $ 5.2 billion was received on foreign bank accounts. In July, the Central Bank allowed the withdrawal of $ 1 million per month, as a result, by the end of the month, the outflow increased to $ 5.6, in August, the withdrawal of funds began to decline – up to $ 5.4 billion. The regulator has not yet provided data for October.
At the beginning of 2022, Russians had only $30.6 billion in foreign banks, according to the Central Bank. Thus, in less than a year, Russian citizens more than doubled this amount: in September, they had $63 on deposits abroad .1 billion. These data do not include transfers of funds that were not deposited with foreign banks. Taking them into account, the outflow of funds of individuals can be much higher.