YEREVAN, September 3. / ARKA /. Private remittances sent to Armenia mostly by labor migrants in the first seven months of 2015 for non-commercial purposes were 30.3% down from the year earlier totaling about $674.3 million, according to the Central Bank’s monthly bulletin for July 2015.

The amount of remittances from Armenia to other countries in the same time span dropped by 10.2% to $176.7 million from $196.7 million a year ago. The net inflow fell to about $497.6 million from $770.9 million in the first seven months of 2014.

The bulk of the money - about 75.9% - came from Russia. Compared to the first seven months of 2014 they plummeted by 35.7% to about $511.9 million, while remittances from Armenia to Russia grew by 2.6% to $114.7 million.

The amount of remittances to Armenia in July alone fell by 29.6% from 2014 July to $137.2 million.

Remittances to Armenia in 2014 decreased by 7.5% to $1.73 billion (15.7% of the GDP). The decline was blamed on the dramatic devaluation of the Russian ruble. ($ 1 - 485.49 drams). -0 -