The significant growth of devaluation expectations affected the amount of foreign currency bought by individuals and the conversion of ruble-denominated deposits into dollars, the data of the National Bank show.
The net purchase of foreign cash and non-cash foreign currency by individuals in December 2013 was record high – $475.3 million. In comparison, individuals bought $237.1 million in November, $379.5 million in October, $331.9 million in September, $167.7 million in August and $265 million in July, AFN reports.
The net purchase of foreign cash in December was $318.9 million ($156.4 million in November). The gross sale of foreign cash rose 10.4% to $705.8 million, the purchase grew 28.8% to $1024.7 million.
The net demand for non-cash foreign currency in December increased to $156.4 million from $80.7 million in November. The amount of sold non-cash foreign currency was $44.2 million (1.7% higher than in the previous month), the amount of bought non-cash foreign currency was $200.7 million (a 1.6-fold increase).
Individuals took $2.38 billion from the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves in 2013 that shows how people really trust the government's economic policy.
The net demand for foreign cash in 2013 was $1362.4 million, for non-cash foreign currency – $1017.6 million.
