MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) — Over half of Russian citizens express increased concern about the country's financial system over Western economic sanctions, but their consumer behavior remains mostly unchanged, a public opinion poll said Thursday.
"Over a half of Russians [52 percent] believe that the sanctions imposed by Western countries are negatively affecting the country's financial system, provoking a financial crisis in Russia," National Agency for Financial Research detailed citing the results of an October survey. "Fears of a financial crisis are especially common for the residents of Moscow [69 percent] and the people of the Siberian and Northwestern Federal Districts [61 and 45 percent respectively].
A similar poll conducted in May showed that only 31 percent of the population was doubtful about Russia's economic and financial stability.
The proportion of Russians who have given up certain financial services due to the sanctions has increased from one to seven percent since May and reached 17 percent in the capital.
The pollsters emphasized that seven out of ten respondents had not revised their consumer habits yet. However, nine percent of those surveyed had cut their spending. In addition, an insignificant portion of three percent had abandoned a large purchase or a trip abroad.
Washington and its allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia, blaming Moscow for meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs — claims that Russia has repeatedly denied.
The sanctions target Russia's banking, defense and energy sectors, as well as certain individuals. As a responsive measure, Moscow has introduced a ban on certain food imports from the countries that initiated the sanctions.
