In a comment for Kommersant, Valery Tyurin, Head of Investments and Financial Markets at FBK, explains why Russians have largely become indifferent to foreign currency deposits.
According to the Bank of Russia’s data, foreign currency deposits fell below $20 billion in September 2026. To compare, the all-time high was recorded in March 2014 — $85.9 billion.
The share of foreign currency funds in total household savings dropped to 4.5% — an all-time low over the entire history of observation, Valery Tyurin says.
Why foreign currency no longer works as a ‘savings box’
- A huge gap in rates. Rouble deposits yield 13–14% per annum, whereas rates on foreign currency deposits are near zero (from 0.1% to 3.5%). Locking up money for a term for a negligible interest rate makes little economic sense.
- Sanctions and restrictions. A strict limit on cash foreign currency withdrawals is in effect (no more than $10 thousand from deposits opened before March 2022), and anything above that is paid out only in roubles.
- Unprofitability for the banks themselves. Due to difficulties with cross-border payments and the impossibility to deposit attracted foreign currency effectively, credit institutions simply do not need to attract such liabilities.
What about ‘friendly’ currencies?
Back in 2025, there was a short-term surge of interest in yuan, dirhams, and rupees (retail foreign currency deposits grew by 16%). But already in 2026, banks stopped actively advertising them. Of the alternative currencies, only the Chinese yuan has firmly established itself in the market, but it remains more of a niche instrument for wealthy clients and business settlements, rather than a mass-market product.
Who needs this at all now?
The expert claims that the existing demand for foreign currency is driven exclusively by a ‘limited circle of individuals’. Foreign currency accounts today mainly interest those clients who are diversifying their savings or planning future expenses in that specific currency (for example, for travel or settlements with foreign counterparties). For the mass client, this has lost its meaning.
Expert forecast
Will there be a surge of interest if the market situation changes? Valery Tyurin sums up: ‘Any sharp exchange rate fluctuations or changes in the sanctions regime can trigger only a short-term flow of funds back into foreign currency, but the structural trend towards rouble savings will continue to dominate’.
