MOSCOW, 22 Jan – PRIME. In November-December, Russians bought foreign currency worth $ 4.7 billion, while part of it was deposited in banks – foreign currency deposits of the population grew by $ 4.2 billion, while subsidiary foreign banks and non-residents purchased foreign currency worth 13.1 billion rubles , said the Bank of Russia. “The strengthening of the ruble was accompanied by the sale of foreign currency on the stock exchange by some foreign participants, as well as the return to short positions in currency swaps by non-residents. , – the regulator writes. The population, on the contrary, actively bought foreign currency in the largest Russian banks and on the Moscow Stock Exchange. “In November-December, net purchases amounted to about 4.7 billion US dollars. At the end of the year, there was no shortage of foreign exchange liquidity. This is partly due to the fact that the purchased currency was placed on deposits (in November-December, foreign exchange liabilities to individuals increased by 4 , 2 billion US dollars) “, – noted in the Central Bank. Moreover, for the first time in a long time, credit institutions used a currency swap with the Bank of Russia to attract rubles in exchange for US dollars and euros – for a period until January 11, 2021, market participants attracted 118 billion rubles.
