Monetary reform in the USSR in 1961

Reliable information on the objectives of the monetary reform of 1961 in the literature devoted to this issue is scarce, including due to the fact that at present documents regarding this monetary reform and monetary reforms in the USSR as a whole have not been declassified the second half of the XX century ^[1] . According to the official version, the reform was carried out "... in order to facilitate the circulation of money and make money more valuable . " It should be noted only that the monetary reform of 1961, presented to the masses as a simple denomination (and remained so in the memory of the people), in fact, was a devaluation of the Soviet ruble against foreign currencies and gold .

The causes and consequences of devaluation by various researchers are evaluated ^[2] differently (in particular, among the factors that led to the devaluation are the export of Soviet oil ^[3] , which began to gain momentum, economic difficulties associated with the arms race, the implementation of the space program, assistance to friendly countries, and confrontation with Western countries ^[4] ). Thus, the official US dollar rate , which amounted to 1: 4 before the reform, was not changed 10 times, like salaries, pensions, household deposits in savings banks and the scale of prices in the public sector of the economy, but only 4.44 times and after the reform amounted to 90 cents for 1 US dollar. In the same way, the gold content of the ruble was changed 4.44 times. If before the reform it amounted to 0.222168 grams, then after the reform it amounted to 0.987412 grams in the allegedly more expensive 10 times ruble. For the bulk of the population of the USSR, which did not have the need (and ability) to exchange rubles for foreign currency, this went almost unnoticed, moreover, overshadowed by major events taking place at that time (the implementation of the space program , the first manned flight into space , the election of a new President , the beginning of the Caribbean crisis and others).

The actual 2.25-fold decrease in the gold content and the rate of Soviet money against foreign currencies and, accordingly, the decrease in the purchasing power of ruble wages (not only in relation to imports, but also when buying jewelry, goods on collective and other markets) were presented in official reports as "increasing the gold content and the ruble exchange rate" ^[1] .

The population, in contrast to the previous confiscation reform of 1947 , was informed in advance about the upcoming exchange of money. On May 4, 1960, N. S. Khrushchev signed Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 470 “On changing the scale of prices and replacing current money with new money” ^[1] . The signing of this resolution is connected with the subsequent resignation on May 16, 1960 of the then Minister of Finance A. G. Zverev , who did not agree with the reform plan ^[5] .

After the publication of Decree No. 470 on May 5, purchases of everyday goods increased sharply, and the influx of population deposits in savings banks increased. In the second half of 1960, the revenue of jewelry stores jumped several times, fur products, rolls of woolen fabrics, long-term products, and other goods were rapidly bought up. In October 1960, the recalculation of deposits at savings banks began. When recalculating, the depositor did not have to come to the savings bank, all deposits were recalculated according to a single method - 10: 1. On goods, the price was indicated in both old and new money.

From January 1, 1961, banknotes of a new type in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 rubles were issued. Coins of the new sample were minted in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 kopecks and 1 ruble. Banknotes of 1947 and silver, nickel, copper and bronze coins issued in the USSR since 1921 were withdrawn from circulation and changed to new ones in a 10: 1 ratio. The traditional division of banknotes was preserved depending on the face value of state treasury tickets and tickets of the USSR State Bank . The new money was much smaller, which, of course, was more convenient for everyday settlements and served as one of the justifications for the reform. The general design of the banknotes retained a certain continuity, but instead of a portrait of V.I. Lenin on new money, his bas-relief profile appeared. Moreover, on February 24, 1958, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution on the minting of coins of a new type. In October-December 1960, money of a new type filled the local State Bank vaults. As in the course of the monetary reform of 1947, coins of the USSR with face values ​​of 1, 2 and 3 kopecks of earlier issues were not exchanged and remained in circulation (from 1926 to 1957 - from 1958 the State Bank stopped minting them) ^[6] .

The exchange of cash for three months was carried out by the exchange points that opened on January 2, 1961. Moreover, at the official level, what was happening was not recognized as a monetary reform . Thus, the USSR Ministry of Finance and the USSR State Bank, reporting to the Central Committee of the CPSU on the results of the transition to a new scale of prices and the exchange of old money for new ones, announced the need to adopt a special resolution on this issue of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR and publish the corresponding message in print. According to Garbuzov and Korovushkin , the measures taken to change the price scale, increase the gold content and the ruble exchange rate in terms of their importance for the national economy of the USSR and improve the monetary system had the character of a reform. In this regard, they requested permission to continue to refer to the measures taken as the 1961 monetary reform. However, the CPSU Central Committee did not agree with this opinion, since the adoption of this proposal is not necessitated, “all the more so since these measures have not been presented as reform in our press.” The Central Committee did not approve the proposal to adopt a resolution on this issue and publish it in print.

The resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the Results of the Transition to a New Price Scale and the Exchange of Old Money for New Money” in May 1961 gave a positive assessment of the work done. The report said: “The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR noted that the transition to a new scale of prices and the exchange of money took place in an organized manner, in compliance with all the conditions and deadlines for the implementation of this important national economic event. The new Soviet ruble was highly accepted by the population and firmly entered into economic circulation . ” The report also noted that, “as you know, all monetary reforms in the capitalist countries are carried out in the interests of the exploiting classes and are ultimately accompanied by a decrease in the living standards of the working people. Measures to switch to a new price scale and exchange money were carried out in the USSR in compliance with the interests of the population and the state, as a result of their implementation the population received a number of benefits ” ^[1] .

The positive factors include the reduction in the cost of production of paper money, since the new banknotes were much smaller format. Due to the low nominal prices of everyday goods (bread, milk, matches, salt, carbonated drinks, etc.), metallic money played a significant role in cash flow over a long period, which also led to savings in the production of banknotes. Everything else was not as straightforward.

As already noted, the official gold content of the ruble has changed. If pre-reform 10 rubles contained 2.22168 grams of gold, then 1 ruble of 1961 - 2.25 times less - 0.987412 grams. The exchange rate, which since 1950 amounted to 4 pre-reform rubles for 1 dollar, after the reform amounted to 90 new kopecks (instead of 40) - quite in line with the Bretton Woods currency system functioning at that time (despite the fact that the Soviet Union was not officially considered to be its member ) For the population, prices for jewelry increased. According to contemporaries, a tenfold change in prices unregulated by the state (in the markets for the production of personal subsidiary farms, etc.) also did not occur - the active population did not hide the change in the official gold content of the ruble ^[1] , and market prices often did not change by 10 , but only 4.5 times, which meant more than double the price increase. For individual products with a low nominal value, price increases could reach tenfold. For example, if a bunch of greenery before the reform cost 5 kopecks, then after the reform it could continue to cost 5 kopecks, but now new ones ^[7] .

In the absence of a labor market and other market institutions, the Soviet authorities managed to ensure the long-term - for decades - effect of the devaluation, expressed in consistently cheap labor resources and high profitability of export products. For those 30 years when the “new” ruble was being circulated, a single national economic complex has developed in the country, large deposits of natural resources have been developed, and with them new large areas in the north and east of the country; in 1961-1985 fixed assets worth 2637 billion rubles were put into operation, more than 9 thousand new industrial enterprises were built; 54 million apartments were built ^[1] . In addition, the space program and the weapons program were implemented on a large scale, and the largest armed forces in the world in terms of personnel and armored vehicles were maintained and developed.

The side effects of devaluation for the bulk of the population also dragged on for decades - low (even in comparison with some countries of the socialist camp ) level of remuneration and excessive cost of imported goods, which before the reform were almost absent from the commercial assortment, but now turned into a luxury category for the Soviet inhabitants.

• Denomination (Economics)

• Pre-reform money for their large size was called "Stalin's footcloths", and post-reform money for their small size, comparable to a candy wrapper, "Khrushchev wrappers."
• The "Stalin" Minister of Finance of the USSR Arseny Zverev , who carried out the monetary reform of 1947, resigned on May 16, 1960 due to disagreement with the plan of the Khrushchev reform ^[2] .
• In everyday life, banknotes of the 1961 sample were called “new” for a long time, and prices were transferred to “old” money. See the dialogue from the film “The Diamond Arm ” (1968): “There are 500 rubles. “New?”; also in the film “ Zigzag of Fortune ” (1968): “How much does a fur coat cost? - 2900. - Is that the old or the new? - In a new way. “29 thousand for a water rat ?!” The story of Zoe Boguslavskaya “Seven hundred new” was published in 1970, nine years after the reform.
• About reform in 1961, the animated film " Dear Kopek " was filmed, and in 1992 - the film " Moneychangers ".

• Money and monetary reforms in Russia (istorya.ru site)
• Soviet animated film promoting reform (no later than 1960)