#5453
[Second Issue of the Day]
#2
Russian public increases dollar holdings
Itar-Tass
Moscow, 19 September: The Russian population holds 18-20bn US dollars,
compared to only 3bn US dollars in October 1995 and 30bn US dollars after the
1998 crisis, a financier said.
The head of the consulting firm BFI, Aleksandr Khandruyev, who was once first
deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, told a press conference on
Wednesday [18 September] that people keep R189bn, mainly in dollars, in their
bank accounts.
He believes that nothing will happen to the dollar in the foreseeable future.
There may be fluctuations within 5 to 7 per cent but that is not a
collapse...
At the same time, Khandruyev noted that Russia is one of the countries with
moderate dollarization. The share of foreign currency in bank assets was 54
per cent as of 1 January 1999 and dropped to 42 per cent on 1 July 2001.
"The
share is big but not dominating", he said.
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