Bashkiria residents increased both spending and savings in 2023

The savings attractiveness did not prevent residents of Bashkortostan from continuing to show consumer activity—just like residents of other regions of the country. As the Bank of Russia's March report shows, consumer activity remained high in previous months at the beginning of 2024.

In the second half of 2023, thanks to high demand, inflation accelerated, which the Central Bank tried to cope with by gradually increasing the key rate. As a result of tightening monetary policy, the growth of consumer activity began to slow down. However, citizens' expenses remained high due to increased wages and social benefits, commented analysts at the Ural State Administration of the Bank of Russia. Lending volumes also grew at an active pace. Thus, in 2023, the portfolio of loans to residents of Bashkortostan grew by 30% to 969.5 billion rubles; in 2022, the growth was 10%. And in January, residents and businesses of the republic took out 26.5% more loans than in the first month of 2023.

At the same time, the population's saving behavior also emerged. Due to the increase in deposit rates, people willingly opened and replenished bank deposits. For example, in Bashkiria in 2023, the volume of citizens’ funds in banks increased by a record 27%, while in 2022—by 12.7%. Experts from the National Bank of the Republic note that the growth continues this year.

Author: Elina Akhmetova