In June 2022, the currency in circulation (M0)1 amounted to MDL 30,601.8 million, decreasing by MDL 1,096.9 million (3.5%) compared to December 2021 (Chart 1) due to exceeding of the volume of cumulative receipts over the volume of cumulative releases per banking system2 by MDL 1,109.6 million in the period of January – June 2022.
Chart 1.
Correlation of M0 indicator with volume of cash operations, million MDL
During January – June 2022, the volume of cash receipts increased by 19.8% compared to the similar period of the previous year and amounted to MDL 82,604.2 million. The increase in the volume of cash receipts was mainly determined by the increase by 10.6% of the receipts from the sale of consumer goods (regardless of the sales channel), which have the largest share (52.0%) in the volume of total receipts (Chart 2). At the same time, the volume of receipts from the sale of foreign currency to individuals increased 2.9 times, amounting to MDL 6,452.6 million (the equivalent of USD 349.5 million3).
This evolution was supported by most sources with a major share in cash receipts.
Chart 2.
Main sources of cash receipts in licensed banks vaults and their monthly dynamics
At the same time, in June 2022, the volume of cash receipts amounted to MDL 14,968.4 million (+1.4% compared to May 2022 and +12.7% compared to June 2021).
The volume of cash releases from licensed banks vaults in January-June 2022 increased by 14.4% compared to the similar period of the previous year and amounted to MDL 81,494.5 million (Chart 3).
Chart 3.
Main purposes of cash releases from licensed banks vaults and their monthly dynamics4
This change was mainly determined by the increase in the releases from individuals’ accounts5 by MDL 4,893.6 million (30.7%), totalling MDL 20,822.7 million. Their share increased by 3.2 percentage points and accounted for 25.6% of the total volume of cash releases.
At the same time, the releases to purchase foreign currencies from individuals decreased by 3.7% to MDL 19,816.5 million (the equivalent of USD 1,073.3 million6), which represents 24.3% of the total volume of cash releases.
It should be noted that releases from ATMs had a significant share of 22.2% of total releases, increasing in January - June 2022 by 33.8% compared to the same period of the previous year.
In June 2022, the volume of cash releases amounted to MDL 15,381.9 million, which is more than the volume of cash receipts by MDL 413.6 million. Compared to May 2022, cash releases increased by MDL 547.4 million or by 3.7%.
1. Currency in circulation (M0) represents circulating cash issued by the National Bank of Moldova, except for cash in banks and NBM vault.
2. Volume of cash operations includes transactions with commemorative coins.
3. Recalculated using the official average exchange rate calculated for that period.
4. Aggregate data may not correspond exactly to the sum of the components due to mathematical rounding.
5. Current, deposit and card accounts are included.
6. Recalculated using the official average exchange rate.