Liberal Democrat Mikhail Degtyarev has withdrawn his bill on the US dollar ban from the national parliament, says the Interfax news agency. He has not commented on the reasons for his move, though.

      As Russia-IC earlier reported, the MP introduced a plan to outlaw the American currency in Russia on November 13, 2013. If approved, Russians would be forced to sell any bucks they have in cash.

      According to Mr. Degtyarev, it was an urgent measure to take care of the people’s savings. He warned that the government would face a stream of discontent investors who would be crying for help in the case of the dollar’s imminent collapse.

      Degtyarev was obviously looking to strike a chord with ordinary Russians by referring to the economic fallout from Ponzi schemes that siphoned off the Russians' savings in the 1990s.

      But as experts and opinion polls suggested later, Russians were very much weary of the move. The new rules would prompt the collapse of the financial markets, dramatic capital outflow and panic among the population, analysts warned.

      Anyway, the bill had little chance to be passed into law since the United Russia party considered it as a populist move and said it was not going to support it.

      Russians have traditionally been very skeptic about their own currency, the rouble, and preferred to save money in foreign currencies, the dollar being the most popular. The trends have changed in the past years, with more confidence to the rouble but fears and rumours of devaluation prompt many to hold their savings in dollars.

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