Balances at correspondent accounts drop

At the beginning of business today balances at correspondent accounts of Russian commercial banks decreased noticeably again. At banks in the Moscow region this drop was 4.8bn rubles ($152m) and it amounted to 4.7bn rubles ($149m) throughout the country. A considerable decrease in balances has occurred for the second working day in a row. Over this period the balances at commercial banks throughout the country eased back by almost 20bn rubles ($633m) and in the Moscow region by 18bn rubles ($569m). Nevertheless, the low balances have not led to the emergence of a ruble deficit on the market of ruble resources since the middle of last month.

According to specialists, in the first half of the day, one-day ruble credit rates were 1.5-2.5 percent, i.e. at a minimal level.