Oxford Street in central London
Photo: Reuters
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Russians Withdrew $55 Bill. from European Banks
Russian clients withdrew a record $55 billion from their European bank accounts in the fourth quarter of last year. Vedomosti newspaper writes that that is the largest outflow of Russian funds in the last five years. According to the Bank for International Settlements, that was the first year since 2003 that clients from Eastern Europe withdrew funds rather than adding to their accounts.
Access to international loans has become harder for the majority of Russian companies due to the credit crisis. Therefore, Russian companies rerouted funds from foreign accounts to pay for foreign debts or for other purposes. Russian investors may have transferred their funds to more promising markets. Also, the share of the Central Bank’s currency reserves in foreign banks was reduced in the fourth quarter of last year by more than $17 billion.
Of the $390 billion in bad debt written off by credit organizations since the beginning of last year, about $200 billion of that amount came from European banks. The Bank for International Settlements is headquartered in Switzerland. It coordinated work between central banks and conducts economic research.
www.kommersant.com
|
|
|
