Over the first three quarters of this year, migrant remittance flows into Tajikistan have reportedly increased by 18 percent. Experts attribute increase in the remittance flows to revival of Russia’s economy.
“Over the first nine months of this year, Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) has risen 1.7 percent and Russia’s inflation for the report period has stood at 3.4 percent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the year-end GDP growth rate of Russia this year will stand at 1.8 percent,” the head of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) Committee on Economics, Budget and Finance, Sharif Rahimzoda, noted in Dushanbe on November 2 while addressing the 6th meeting of the EU–Tajikistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.
According to him, revival of Russia’s economy promoted increase in migrant remittance flows into Tajikistan. Over the same nine months of this year, migrant remittance flows into Tajikistan have risen 18 percent, Rahimzoda noted.
Over same period last year, more than 1.4 billion U.S. dollars have been sent through money transfer system to Tajikistan from the Russian Federation. Taking into consideration the 18-percent increase, one can calculate that the migrant remittance flows into the country over the first nine months of this year have amounted to some 1.7 billion U.S. dollars.
Tajikistan is one of the world’s most remittance dependent countries and labor migrants are still a critical component in the economy of Tajikistan. Remittances keep many struggling families at home above the poverty line.
An estimated 1 million Tajik labor migrants are currently working in the Russian Federation, according to some sources.
