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Ukrainians start withdrawing money from banks — news portal

According to the official data, the volume of personal deposits in Ukrainian banks has decreased in March by 5.9%

KIEV, April 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian citizens have started withdrawing their savings from bank accounts, Ukraine’s news portal Vesti said on Monday, referring to the latest statistics of the National Bank of Ukraine.

According to the official data, the volume of personal deposits in Ukrainian banks has decreased in March by 5.9% - about 26 billion Ukraine’s hryvnias ($2 billion). Personal deposits have decreased by 3%.

These developments are mainly connected with the escalation of political instability in the country and devaluation of Ukraine’s hryvnia.

In an attempt to improve the situation, Ukrainian banks are trying to attract depositors by raising interest rates. In general, interest rates on deposits in hryvnias have increased to 19.5%, reaching a 26% maximum in April. However, this interest rate increase deters part of the clients, specialists say.

Bankers note that the outflow of personal deposits may continue in April. People have less confidence in banks and prefer to save their money at home. Vesti data show that almost 100% of deposits are not returned to the banking system upon expiry.

It has been noted that the number of loans also decreased in March, while interest rates, which are already high enough, continued to grow. Experts say if deposit outflows continue, mortgage development and automobile loan promotion programs will possibly be scrapped.