OREANDA-NEWS  On 08 September was announced, that the money supply (M3) went up by 1.6% in August (3.8% in July) and by 19.8% over 8M2008 (26.0% in 8M2007) to USD 97.9bn. At the same time, M0 increased by 2.3% in August (5% in July), amounting to 28.2% of the total money supply. Banks' credit portfolios rose by 3.1% (28.4% over 8M2008) to USD 113.0bn. Consumer credits increased by 2.0% in August taking a 37.0% share in the total credit portfolio (37.3% in July). The deposit amount increased by 1.4% in August (3.3% in July) to USD 69.4bn. The deposit interest rate in domestic currency slightly decreased from 9.1% to 9.0%, while the loan interest rate went up from 17.1% to 17.3%.

The money supply growth in August 2008 was one the lowest in the last ten years. This was related to the slow down of the growth rates for deposits, which is explained by the decrease in the deposit interest rate. Also, the quite low deposit interest rate stimulated the growth of cash in circulation. We consider that the money supply growth will be quite restricted in September (around 2%, m/m), though it will accelerate in 4Q2008, contributing to around 30-35% growth in 2008.