According to the Central Bank, the population bought $6.9 billion within a month, setting an absolute record.
The balance of individual currency operations reached $3.1 billion, which is 1.8 times more than in the previous month. It also became a record high figure in December 1997 when the balance of currency operations reached $3.5 billion. This July, the level of imported currency hit $3.4 billion, which was the highest figure since December 1997 when $4.5 billion were imported. At the time, the world was in the midst of the Asian financial crisis, and Russia was actively bracing itself for the events of 1998.
July was the consecutive fifth month when increasing net currency imports were registered. The balance of individual currency operations exceeded $1.2 billion.
The Central Bank puts this down to the increasing demand for seasonal tourist needs and "intensive discussions of Russian banking problems in the press." Analysts note that some ruble deposits were withdrawn and converted into dollars.
The purchase of cash dollars negatively affects the banking system and hits many macro-economic indices hard. For example, in August, consumer prices grew by 0.4% as compared to the deflation of the previous year. Worse still, "the decrease in ruble assets spurs capital outflow, raises imports and spoils the quality of economic growth due to decreased investment activity," said Yevgeny Gavrilenkov, economist at the Troika-Dialog investment company.
