The share of Russians’ deposits denominated in foreign currencies shrank to 19.6% ($96.5 bln) at the end of 2019 after showing a consistent decline over the past four years – 29.4% in 2015, 23.7% in 2016, 20.6% in 2017, and 21.5% in 2018.
The overall amount of household deposits with Russian banks increased by 9.9% to RUB 30.549 trln ($488 bln) last year. The share of foreign currency deposits declined due to the strengthening of the ruble as well as a sharp decrease in interest rates on such deposits (from 3.3% in January to 1.1% in November). However, lowering interest rates on ruble deposits and a decrease in their differential with foreign currency rates may constrain further reduction in the use of foreign currencies for deposit operations.