Central Bank of Russia describes the consequences of mobilization

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation recorded an outflow from personal accounts after authorities announced “partial mobilization” on September 21. 

Interfax reports that Alexander Danilov, director of the bank’s department of regulations and analytics, said “since September, in connection with well-known events, there has been some outflow of funds from individuals, but it doesn’t threaten liquidity.”

Individual funds in Russian banks decreased by 458 billion rubles, or 1.4 percent, according to a review prepared by the Central Bank. The decrease occurred in the second half of the month, “when the number of people leaving the country and taking their cash with them increased.”

The report says that “citizens are inclined to withdraw cash during times of stress or uncertainty,” but they then redeposit it. The Central Bank points out that withdrawals rose significantly in February 2022, but the balance tipped toward deposits in April, a trend which continued all the way until October.

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The decree which started Russia’s mobilization contains a classified point, which specifies how many people the country plans to send to war. The Ministry of Defense said they were considering 300,000 people, a number repeated by President Putin. However sources, including Meduza’s, say that the classified point discusses the possibility that more than a million people could be called up.

In the middle of October, Putin announced that “partial mobilization” would end during the following two weeks. Authorities in Moscow and the surrounding region reported that mobilization is complete, and summonses which have already been sent out are no longer valid. At present, a presidential decree ending mobilization has not been signed.