World

Here’s What Russians Hoarded When the Lockdown Began

  • About $14 billion has been withdrawn since early March
  • People were afraid banks would be unavailable during lockdown

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

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While consumers around the globe were hoarding toilet paper last month ahead of a wave of government-imposed lockdowns, Russians were stockpiling cash.

About 1 trillion rubles ($13.6 billion) has been issued from cash machines and bank branches since the beginning of March, more than during the whole of last year, central bank data show.