UrBC, Moscow, February 21, 2019. The amount of foreign currency Russians bought in December 2018 dropped by 11% compared with November 2018 and thus came to $5.1bn, the Central Bank of Russia’s Bank of Russia Publications state.

The overall demand for foreign currency includes both actual banknotes purchased through banks and the money taken out of foreign currency accounts.

According to the CBR, the demand for foreign currency dropped by 11% in December 2018 compared with November 2018 and came to $5.1bn. Compared with December 2016 and 2017, the demand dropped by 24% and 21%, respectively.

The demand for the U.S. dollars declined by 14% in December 2018 compared with November 2018 (total amount purchased: $3.3bn); that for the Euro declined by 6% (total amount purchased: $1.7bn). U.S. dollars and the Euro made up 65% and 33%, respectively, of all the foreign currency banknotes/money taken out of accounts in December.

Russians purchased $2.5bn worth of foreign currency banknotes at the banks in December 2018 (down 21% on November 2018). The average purchase amount decreased by 21% and came to $1,438. Private account holders also took $2.6bn out of their foreign currency accounts, which was comparable with the figures for November 2018.