Owners of dollar accounts can return money in rubles. How much will they lose?

In the case of sanctions against the bank, VTB’s foreign exchange contributions can be returned to their holders in the national currency at the current rate, said the head of VTB Andrei Kostin. For depositors, this does not promise anything good, experts surveyed by The Bell are sure: citizens and companies will remain without additional protection against foreign exchange risks and lose on the difference in courses. Other state -owned banks can take Kostin’s strategy.

Details

• Quote: “If the people run to the dollars, then we will give the money to everyone ... All the possibilities are considered: the payment in the national currency at the current rate, and transfer to other banks in rubles so that they later transferred to dollars and cash (we are now a lot),” Kostin said in an interview with Business FM ( more ).
• The return of dollar deposits in rubles is an extremely unpleasant scenario for the bank customers, because many owners of foreign exchange deposits keep money on them not in order to get some interest income, but in order to seal the currency risks associated with the possible devaluation of the ruble, says Alexei Buzdalin, director of Interfax-TSEA. According to him, any forced conversion of foreign exchange deposits means the collapse of the strategy of hedging of foreign exchange risks for their owners, which become defenseless before fluctuations in the course.
• The big question is what the course will be, says Andrey Zaitkov, Development Director of UFG Wealth Management. However, there will be losses even if deposits are paid in rubles at the current rate - “within the percentage”, said the general director of Frank Research Group Yuri Gribanov.
• The most serious problems will have large investors, according to Gribanov, because "they have a share of foreign exchange deposits than that of mass depositors." Buzdalin believes that due to the threat of such a calculation of the dollar deposits, state-owned banks may encounter customers in commercial banks.
• Rumors that such a scheme of calculation with the owners of foreign exchange accounts could be introduced for a long time, even after the first wave of sanctions of 2014, remembers the hits. In his opinion, other state -owned banks may follow the example of Kostin (Sberbank, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank, Promsvyazbank appear in the US Congress bill). “It seems to me that everyone will look like VTB. I don’t know what other alternatives can be, ”Gribanov agrees.
• According to Frank RG, of the ten largest banks deposit portfolio, the maximum rates on dollar accounts have grown in state banks since April. Promsvyazbank increased the maximum rate in July by 1.45 p., To 1.55%, Sberbank - in August by 1.08%, to 3.14%, VTB raised the maximum rate in May - by 0.91%, to 3.17%, Rosselkhozbank increased the maximum rate of three times - in May, June and July, summarized by the total of it. 0.91%, up to 3.41%.

Frank Research Group press release

In anticipation of the introduction of new restrictions, investors withdraw money from OFZ, banks increase rates on ruble deposits, and the Central Bank can increase the rate already at a meeting of September 14. What in such conditions to do with our savings, we wrote

Liana Faizova