BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/15
Capital flows between Russia and the rest of the world remain small
Especially in light of seasonal variations, the net flow of private capital abroad was very small in the first quarter. Like last year, banks continued to pay down foreign debt (even if there was less to pay than last year) while repatriating their assets from abroad in the same amount.
In the corporate sector, the net capital outflow dwindled to a trickle as there was little to pay back on outstanding loans. The outflow of direct investments still contracted slightly and was quite modest. Continuing the earlier trend, FDI inflows to Russia were even smaller. The outflow of grey capital from Russia was still marginal. Following the trend of recent years, there was a slight decrease in the stock of foreign currency cash held outside banks.