MOSCOW, June 9. /ITAR-TASS/. Russians’ demand for foreign currency has returned to normal levels from record purchases in March, Russia’s Central Bank said on Monday.
The situation with the demand for foreign currency has fully stabilized and the purchase of euros and US dollars at foreign exchange offices has dropped by about a third, returning to the levels of the past few years, the regulator said.
The population’s aggregate demand for foreign currency (the amount of foreign currency purchased at authorized banks, received from conversion transactions and withdrawn from foreign exchange accounts) soared by 50% in Russia in March, month on month, to a record high of $14.3 billion since January 2009.
Russia’s Central Bank said at that time that the record purchases of foreign currency in March could be explained by the ruble’s depreciation against the world’s leading currencies and uncertain expectations over its further dynamics.
In April, the household aggregate demand for foreign currency fell to $9.5 billion, according to the Bank of Russia’s data.
Russians have started more frequently to sell foreign currency to banks. These sales grew by 2% over the month to $7.6 billion, the Bank of Russia said.