Russians stuff $80 milluin under mattresses

ChrisD(RJ) chrisd at russiajournal.com
Sat Aug 10 05:09:10 PDT 2002



> In part confirming Kostikov's rosy outlook for the Russian market and its
> ability to absorb some of the billions of loose Russian cash dollars, a
> poll issued this week put the local ruble as the country's most-trusted
> currency.
>
> About 37-percent of respondents said they preferred to keep their savings
> in rubles while 35 picked dollars, according to the Public Opinion
> Foundation.

This poll is cited while leaving out some crucial information. Those prefering the ruble are largely the poor (see below).

Chris Doss The Russia Journal ------------------ RosBusinessConsulting August 5, 2002 Ruble is most trusted currency in Russia

MOSCOW - An opinion survey of 1,500 citizens showed that the ruble is the most trusted currency for the majority of Russian people. The opinion poll was conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation in 44 regions across Russia on July 27, 2002.

Thirty seven percent of those polled said that they trusted the ruble the most, while 35 percent said they preferred the US dollar, 11 percent – the

euro, and 17 percent were undecided.

Most of those who prefer the ruble are from the least well-off groups: people over 50 years old (50 percent), citizens without secondary education (60 percent), those from the households with monthly incomes of less than RUR 1,000 (about $31.7) per head (44 percent), and rural residents (44 percent).

Most of those who prefer the dollar are young and middle-aged people (46 percent and 42 percent, respectively), citizens with higher education (45 percent) and well-off people (41 percent). Residents of large cities trust the dollar less than on average (25 percent), and the euro – more than on average (17 percent).

The average weighed dollar exchange rate edged down by RUR 0.01 to 31.54 RUR/USD at the unified trading session on Monday. The same level was registered on July 12, 2002. Most analysts say this strengthening of the ruble against the US currency is due to ruble liquidity problems.



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