Over the first three quarters (January-September) of this year, 1.663 billion U.S. dollars have reportedly been sent through money transfer system to Tajikistan from Russia, which is 231 million U.S. dollars more than in the same period last year.
According to Russia’s central bank, 741 million U.S. dollars have been sent to Tajikistan through money transfer system from the Russian Federation over the third quarter (July-September) of this year, which was 89 million U.S. dollars more than in the same period last year.
Of the amount sent to Tajikistan over the third quarter, 171 million U.S. dollars have been sent by residents of Russia and 570 million U.S. dollars have been sent non-residents.
In the currency structure the percentage was: Russian ruble – 71.6 percent; U.S. dollar – 28.2 percent; and euro – 0.2 percent.
In all, 8.8 billion U.S. dollars have been transferred through money transfer systems from Russia to the CIS member nations in January-September this year, which was 1.3 billion U.S. dollars more than in the same period last year.
Uzbekistan has topped CIS nations in terms of remittance flows sent from Russia through money transfer systems over the first nine months of this year. 2.636 billion U.S. dollars have reportedly been remitted to banks Uzbekistan from the Russian Federation over the report period.
Over the same nine-month period, 1.576 billion U.S. dollars have been sent through money transfer system from Russia to Kyrgyzstan.
In 2016, 1.929 billion U.S. dollars were sent to Tajikistan from Russia through the money transfer systems, which was 651 million U.S. dollars more than in 2015 (1.278 billion U.S. dollars were sent through money transfer systems to Tajikistan from Russia in 2015).
Meanwhile, 3.831 billion U.S. dollars were sent through money transfer systems to Tajikistan from Russia in 2014 and 4.155 billion U.S. dollars in 2013.
Experts estimate that migrant remittance flows into Tajikistan over the first three quarters of this year have increased by 18 percent. They attribute increase in the remittance flows to revival of Russia’s economy.
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.
