Capital outflow from Russia intensifies
Capital outflow from Russia continues unabated. According to the Central Bank of Russia, the total remittances of individuals into other countries amounted to USD 6.2 billion in the third quarter for a total of USD 18.5 billion since the start of the year. In comparison, private individuals had withdrawn 18.57 billion dollars during the entire 2015.
Switzerland remains the most popular country for Russians to keep money. In the third quarter of 2016, 984 million dollars were transferred there from Russia, part of 3.76 billion in the first nine months. This is 1.4 times higher than in 2015.
China is second in holding Russian capital. In the third quarter, 627 million dollars were withdrawn from Russia into China, part of $1.3 billion in the first nine months. The total amount of transfers grew by one third from the previous year.
Latvia also remains an important destination for the flight of capital from Russia. $519 million were relocated here in the third quarter, part of $1.5 billion deposited there since the start of the year. Compared with 2015, the volume of transferred funds remained roughly at the same level.
The total volume of capital outflow from Russia in 2015 amounted to $56.9 billion. However, this year’s outflow is 2.7 times less than that of 2014 when capital outflow exceeded $153 billion.
Earlier, the IMF said that a "tightening" awaited Russia’s economy.