Russia's largest lender Sberbank warns that local financial institutions can lose up to four trillion rubles (~$54.8 billion) due to a digital version of ruble, Russia's RBC has learned, citing Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the executive board of Sberbank.
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Popov says the bank's experts project that the financial sector might lose approximately four trillion rubles just three years after the potential launch of the digital ruble. The analysts also expect that the issuance of the digital ruble by replacing fiat and non-cash money will lead to a "significant" drop of banks' liquidity.
"These funds will no longer be available for lending, which will ultimately lead to a shortage of liquidity and, as a consequence, to an increase of interest rates," Popov emphasized.
As iHodl reported in October 2020, Russia's central bank might start testing its own version of digital ruble at the end of 2021. Governor Elvira Nabiullina admits that the possibility for issuance of the digital ruble is very real, and the pilot testing might happen at the end of 2021 already.
The watchdog's head added that the Bank of Russia does not set the task of ousting fiat money with the introduction of the digital ruble.
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