Amid the crisis, the Russian bank will abandon the dollar, and the Ukrainian regulator will quarantine the currency

Russian Raiffeisenbank said that from April 1 it will stop accepting and extending deposits in dollars due to Fed rate cuts.

The changes will affect nine types of deposits. At the same time, bank customers will still be able to keep dollars in current accounts. Fees for servicing current dollar bills will not be charged.

"In connection with an emergency rate cut by the US Federal ReserveRaiffeisenbank is forced to change the terms of acceptance and prolongation of deposits in US dollars. From April 1, we will cancel the acceptance of deposits in this currency. Also, on existing deposits, the extension will be canceled. After the deposit term expires, the funds together with interest will be transferred to the account from which the deposit was opened, - the message says.

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Earlier, the Federal Committee for Open Market Operations decided to reduce the target range of rates for federal funds to 0-0.25% in the fight against financial risks due to coronavirus.

Independent expert Mansur Huseynov calls the Raiffeisenbank decision quite expected.

“The decision on deposit rates is madeTreasury of the bank, based on the cost of available funding and assets (loan portfolio and other). As a general rule, banks seek to maintain a balance in currencies - if there are loans in dollars, you need to attract deposits in dollars. Probably, now the bank has an excess of attracted dollars, and lending in foreign currency is not growing. Accordingly, I don’t see anything surprising in such a decision of Raiffeisenbank ”, He said in a comment to ForkLog.

Huseynov also added that a similar decision by other Russian banks will be made taking into account the market situation.

At the time of writing, the dollar exchange rate in the Russian Federation is 79.98 rubles.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, several commercial banks reported a shortage of foreign cash at the box office.

Since March 18, PrivatBank transferred all currency exchange operations for individuals to non-cash format through a mobile bank, an online version of Privat24 and a network of self-service terminals.

As explained in the press service of Privat, priorityonline currency exchange operations are introduced for the safety of customers during the period of quarantine measures against coronavirus. These measures will be valid until the restoration of international flights and the supply of currency notes to Ukraine from abroad.

Without limitation, cash currency at the PrivatBank cash desks will be able to receive owners of foreign currency deposits, the validity of which expires, and only by prior order of foreign currency funds.

Alfa Bank also stopped issuing cash dollars:

“The issuance of cash US dollars from any client accounts (current, including card, deposit, savings) has been temporarily stopped. Euro cash transactions - no change ”, - notes the press service of the bank.

Representatives of the NBU earlier issued a statement that due to the coronavirus in Ukraine, interruptions in the delivery of banknotes to other financial institutions are expected.

“In recent days, we have seen signs of a lack of cash at the banks' cash desks. This is due to an increase in the population’s demand for cash currency, ” - noted in the National Bank.

At the same time, according to the regulator, $ 8 billion of non-cash currency is concentrated on correspondent accounts of banks.

It is noteworthy that all cash received from banks until going into circulation will be stored without movement for two weeks, that is, the incubation period of the coronavirus infection.

“The cash that will come fromcommercial banks, two weeks will not be processed to protect our employees, and only after that the cycle will begin. That is, the cash that comes from the street on the second day it will not get there. We have enough cash in the vault to back up commercial banks, ATMs with normal, high-quality cash, ” - said the head of the NBU, Yakov Smoly.

The NBU also announced its readiness to disinfect banknotes in the vault.

The current situation has already generated a rush of demand for currency among Kievans, Bitcoin enthusiast Andrei Veliky said in a comment to ForkLog:

“As soon as a crisis happens, we havethe country is in short supply. Currency deficit, if the course goes in one direction, or hryvnia deficit, if in the other. And if suddenly the state is going to create the appearance of stability and asks the banks to make the rate jump less noticeable, then against the backdrop of a surge in activity on the gray market, friendly cashiers at the cash desk of banks immediately refuse operations in a disadvantageous direction. And now, when the hryvnia is flying down, like any self-respecting altcoin, there is a stir on the market in Kiev. ”

According to him, the idea of ​​a NBU with a quarantine of banknotes will have a detrimental effect on the country's foreign exchange market.

“The two-week incubation period, proposedNBU, it is such a surrealism that it doesn’t even occur to me how they can offer it in all seriousness. This will not only make the situation with the availability of currency and excitement around it worse, it will give an official explanation of its deficit. And then we will instantly see the situation, as during the rapid growth from 8 UAH per dollar: one digit was written on the scoreboard, but in fact you can’t buy for it, and right there, in the next closed room, the currency will be shipped at completely different prices. I’ll end with another piece of advice that has helped me out many times - in any incomprehensible situation, buy bitcoin ”, - said the expert.

Quarantine on the territory of Ukraine was announced until April 3, but can be extended by decision of the country's leadership.

Earlier, experts told ForkLog how effective the measures of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will be to protect the economy from volatility in the financial and commodity markets.