Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his personal savings were safe in the bank and held himself up as the example to follow in an interview published Wednesday to sooth growing distrust among his countrymen.

"I have kept all of my bank accounts. I did not withdraw any money and I did not transfer my rubles to dollars," Medvedev answered a reader's question in the Russian daily Argumenty i Fakty.

"I am sure that my savings, just like the savings of all other Russians, are not under threat," he added.

In January election campaign disclosures, Medvedev, the former chairman of Russia's largest firm, energy giant Gazprom, had 2.74 million rubles (100,000 dollars) deposited in eight bank accounts.

Russian authorities have picked their words carefully in recent months seeking to avert a repeat of the public panic seen after the devastating 1998 ruble default when 75 per cent of the country's financial institutions failed.

This time around, as the bad news hit, some 5.4 billion rubles, or 1.2 per cent of private deposits, were withdrawn from Russia's 50 largest banks in the month between mid-August and mid-September, business daily Kommersant said Wednesday.

"It's all me, I took it all out," 64-year-old cab driver Andrei joked Wednesday morning when a passenger complained about ATMs frequently running out of cash.

"I took out all 5,000 dollars of it. Better that it should sit tight under my mattress or that I should enjoy drinking it away than have the bank lose it for me," he added.

Smaller private banks have also complained that they are losing their clients to state-owned banks, like Russia's two biggest lenders Sberbank and VTB group, who will share in a 19-billion-dollar government credit.

The liquidity crunch was compounded by capital flight as investors grew queasy over Russia's war with Georgia in August.

Medvedev has promised over 200 billion dollars in loans to banks, energy and constructions firms to tackle the financial crisis. (dpa)