In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the head of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), Jamshed Nourmahmadzoda, noted on July 25 that remittances to Tajikistan has started to grow this month after three months of decline.
“Compared to July last year, remittances to Tajikistan this month have increased by 7 percent or some 90 million US dollars,” Nourmahmadzoda noted.
According to him, remittances declined in April-June. “The situation has stabilized and remittances have started to grow,” Tajik central bank head said.
Meanwhile, according to data from Russia’s central bank, 2.536 billion U.S. dollars were sent through money transfer system to Tajikistan from Russia last year, which more than 600 million U.S. dollars more than in 2016.
In the currency structure the percentage was: Russian ruble – 83 percent; U.S. dollar – 16 percent; and euro – 0.1 percent.
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).
3.831 billion U.S. dollars were reportedly sent through money transfer systems to Tajikistan from Russia in 2014 and 4.155 billion U.S. dollars in 2013.
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.
