MOSCOW, May 20./ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s finance ministry does not rule out possible capital inflow in Russia in May-June 2014, Maxim Oreshkin, the director if the finance ministry’s long-term strategic planning department, said on Tuesday.

 

“The trend of capital outflow has largely come to a halt. While the April figures (for capital outflow) were significant, I’ll not be surprised if we see positive capital dynamics in some months,” Maksim Oreshkin said.

Most of the capital outflow in the first quarter of this year could be explained by the “public’s demand for foreign currency and the unwillingness of exporters to sell foreign currency proceeds,” the Finance Ministry official said.

Capital outflow trends at the beginning of 2014 are similar to the developments during the crisis period of 2008-2009, which registered an said up in the demand for foreign currency,” he said.

“But after this, households were almost constantly selling foreign currency for almost two years,” he said.

 

The latest data “demonstrate a steady growth of ruble deposits and a reversal of cash foreign currency dynamics in our country,” he said.

Russia’s Economic Development Ministry has said it expects a sharp decline in capital outflow in the second-fourth quarters of 2014 after $63.7 billion left Russia in the first quarter of this year. The ministry forecasts capital outflow to slow to $7 billion in the second quarter, $9 billion in the third and $10 billion in the fourth quarter.