MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Sber sees a liquidity shortage in the market and does not rule out that the situation will persist, partly due to businesses shifting to cash transactions, Sberbank Chief Financial Officer Taras Skvortsov said during a conference call.

"The liquidity shortage that we are currently seeing in the market is not a typical situation. And we do not rule out that it could continue. In our view, this is largely due to part of the business sector shifting to cash transactions. We see cash in circulation increasing, both in the first and the second quarter," he said.

According to Sber’s estimates, cash in circulation increased by nearly 600 bln rubles in July alone, marking the highest monthly increase so far this year.

Skvortsov noted that Sberbank is addressing its liquidity needs using standard instruments and that no emergency measures are currently required.

Sberbank also pointed to a significant shift by Russian businesses toward cash transactions that began in the second quarter and has continued into July.

"The downward revision of our forecast for the growth of corporate funds in 2026 (to 5%-8% from 10%-12%) is linked to the significant shift by businesses into cash transactions, which unfortunately continued throughout the second quarter and into July, at the beginning of the third quarter," the CFO said.