Ukrainians have begun withdrawing money from banks, and the volume of deposits decreased for the first time in a year and a half.

Consumer deposits in Ukrainian banks decreased by 2.1% to ₴2.35T in January of this year. A decline was recorded for the first time since August 2022.

According to the NBU, household deposits decreased by 2.5% to ₴1.05T in January. Hryvnia deposits decreased by 2.6%, and foreign currency deposits decreased by 2.1% in dollar terms.

Commercial deposits in the year’s first month decreased by 1.7 percentage points to ₴1.26T. This is due to a 3.5% drop in hryvnia deposits to ₴884.85B. At the same time, foreign currency deposits increased by 3.2% to $9.89B.

The Chairman of the Parliament’s Finance Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, explained the trend by seasonal phenomenon associated with peak calculations in December. However, as Hetmantsev admitted, a particularly negative effect could be related to the provisions of draft law on mobilization.