MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Russians continued to shift money out of roubles, moving their bank deposits into foreign currencies in November, while banks in turn became less willing to lend, data from the central bank showed on Wednesday.
Mindful of the 1998 financial crisis, bank shutdowns and currency collapse, Russians started shifting money out of roubles in the autumn.
The move proved to be prescient, with the central bank embarking on a gradual rouble depreciation policy from mid-November.
The rouble ends the year around 20 percent lower versus the dollar
At the same time, foreign currency deposits rose on the month, meaning that overall retail deposits were little changed at 5.5 trillion, broadly in line with officials' forecasts.
Corporate deposits however plunged 6.9 percent on the month, as the global credit crunch and slowing demand left companies short of cash. Lending to non-financial companies grew 0.7 percent on the month, the slowest pace since early 2006.
Retail lending fell 0.7 percent last month, its first contraction since at least the start of 2005. Banks have tightened credit criteria while job cuts, lower wages and concerns about the future make people less willing to borrow.
The credit crunch has also taken its toll on Russia's
1,000-plus banking sector, as has public anxiety about the
health of the sector -- many Russians have transferred money
from smaller players to state-controlled majors such as Sberbank
The share of the top five banks grew to 44.9 percent from 42.3 percent at the start of 2008. Banks outside the top 200 have seen their portion shrink to 6.2 percent from 8.5 percent.
The number of loss-making banks rose to 115 from 11 at the start of the year. (Reporting by Toni Vorobyova, editing by Mike Peacock)