OREANDA-NEWS  The excessive demand of Russians for cash, recorded in the spring of this year, is due, among other things, to the consequences of the prolonged easing of the Central Bank's monetary policy. This was stated by the head of Goznak JSC Arkady Trachuk, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

The reduction in the key rate led to less favorable conditions for deposits in the largest Russian banks. The consequence of this was the withdrawal of funds from financial institutions and the storage of cash at home, explained Trachuk.

The analyst called the increased fiscal burden on medium and small businesses another reason for the growing demand of Russians for cash. An increase in the VAT rate from 20 to 22 percent and a multiple decrease in the threshold for paying this tax led to the transition of entrepreneurs to a cash payment method, stated Trachuk.

Earlier, Dmitry Batyushenkov, head of the OFD Platform, pointed to an increase in the share of "live" money in the Russian economy. So, by the end of April, the volume of cash reached 20 trillion, although at the end of last year the figure was only about 3.3 trillion.

Such a trend, Trachuk noted, is unlikely to be long-term. Surges in Russians' demand for cash had occurred before, but soon gradually faded away. "I would not say that I see a fundamental return to cash," the head of Goznak summed up.