Re-engineering of cash circulation underway at the Bank of Russia

The implementation of the Central Bank’s Strategy for Cash Circulation Development in Russia in 2016–2020 will make it possible to reduce expenditures on cash circulation by roughly 6 billion rubles by 2020 and to increase labour productivity of employees directly involved in cash processing by over 47%. The article by First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Georgy Luntovskiy ‘Cash Circulation: Strategic Goals and Development Priorities’ published in the ‘Money and Credit’ December issue is devoted to this topic.

The functions of the Bank of Russia Central Depository have been transferred to the head office divisions for the purposes of reducing costs and eliminating duplication of production processes. These measures are expected to save on salaries over 23 million rubles. As many as 158 cash settlement centres are supposed to be closed, leading to a reduction in Bank of Russia regional branches to 112 by 2021.

The Bank of Russia plans to establish high-tech cash circulation premises in Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Simferopol, Ufa, and Kazan to improve the efficiency of cash processing.