MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Households’ money with Russian banks dropped by 1.2 trillion rubles ($11.2 bln) or by 3.5% in February 2022, the Bank of Russia said on Monday.

"The adverse information background in the environment of sanctions against the largest Russian banks stimulated higher demand of the population for ruble and currency cash. Households’ money dropped by 1.2 trillion rubles (-3.5%) in February, largely during the last week of the month," the regulator said.

The key rate lifting to 20% and the subsequent growth of deposit rates made possible to restore the inflow of funds to time deposits in rubles and stabilized the cash demand of households, the Central Bank noted.