Kyrgyzstan has outstripped Tajikistan in terms of remittance flows from Russia.
According to data from Russia’s central bank, 598 million U.S. dollars have been sent through money transfer system to Tajikistan from the Russian Federation over the first six months of this year, which was reportedly 14 percent less than in the same period last year (696 million U.S. dollars were sent to Tajikistan from Russia in January-June 2015.)
The National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) says that compared to January-June 2015 remittance flows to Tajikistan have declined 22.1 percent over the first six months of this year.
Meanwhile, 637 million U.S. dollars have been sent through money transfer system to Kyrgyzstan from Russia over the same six-month period.
It is to be noted that Kyrgyzstan joined the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in May last year.
The economic contraction in Russia, a major remittance source country, has resulted in migrant job losses while the depreciation of the ruble has reduced the real incomes of migrant workers in Russia and reduced the value of remittances in US dollar terms.
Central Asian countries are the hardest hit, due to their heavy dependency on remittances from Russia. Tajikistan is the world’s most remittance dependent country and labor migrants still remain a critical component in the country’s economy.
Russian central bank says 2.22 billion U.S. dollars were sent through money transfer system to Tajikistan from Russia in 2015, which was 1.621 billion U.S. dollars less than in 2014.
3.831 billion U.S. dollars (USD) were sent through money transfer system to Tajikistan from the Russian Federation in 2014, which was 324 million USD, or almost 8 percent, less compared to 2013.
In 2013, 4.155 billion USD were remitted to banks in Tajikistan from Russia, which was 45 million USD less than in 2012.
