MOSCOW, 21 August 2023. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey on the interest of the Russians in currency fluctuations and the dollar rate forecast.

What currency do we keep savings in?

National currency is the most popular currency to keep savings in for the Russians: in July 2023, 68% of the respondents said they kept their savings in the Russian rubles; another 6% said they preferred dollars; 4% (each group) opted for the euro and other currencies. About a quarter of the respondents said they had no savings at all (27%).

Most of the respondents are inclined to get rid of their foreign currency savings. The share of those who have savings in ruble has increased in February 2022 (+ 8 p.p. compared to the January data) and has not dropped below 65% over this period. The number of those who keep their savings in American dollars has reduced since January last year (11% vs 6% in July 2023). Possible reasons for that are pointlessness to keep foreign currency deposits, risks of accounts being frozen because of sanctions, belief in the stability of national currency, and lack of desire to keep currency in cash.

Keeping track of the foreign currency market updates

In July, the public interest in the situation in the foreign currency market has revived, even though the amount of currency in circulation was cut: 58% of the Russians kept track of the situation, to a varying degree, (+7 p.p. compared to the June data), including every fifth respondent who did it on a regular basis (20%); 38% did it from time to time. However, the share of those who are interested is still lower than that of the first six months of 2022 (63%-66% in February-July 2022 kept track of the foreign currency fluctuations).

Forty-two percent of the respondents did not keep track of the dollar exchange rate in July 2023; every second showed no interest in the exchange rate a month earlier (49%).

What’s next?

The Russians shared their views on short-term (57%) and long-term (38%) dollar rate forecast. They say the dollar will cost approximately 95 rubles in three months, and 97 rubles in a year.

All-Russian telephone survey was conducted July 29, 2023. A total of 1,600 respondents aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, survey of 29 July, 2023:  cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8010; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0185; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1189. Calculations are based on corporate standard https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

 ** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

• July data are taken from July 29 survey.

* July data are taken from July 29 survey.

* July data are taken from July 29 survey.