YEREVAN, October 1. / ARKA /. Private remittances to Armenia sent via banks for non-commercial purposes in 2015 August were 38.3% down from the year before totaling $114.7 million, the Central Bank of Armenia said in a statement posted on its official website.

It said money transfers to Armenia in 2015 August alone fell by 16.4% from the previous month of July.
Remittances from Armenia abroad totaled $27.4 million in 2015 August, down from $29.7 million in 2014 August. The net inflow of remittances in 2015 August amounted to approximately $87.2 million, down from $156 million in 2014 August.

As usual Russia accounts for the bulk of remittances sent to Armenia largely by labor migrants - about 79% of the total. Money transfers from Russia to Armenia decreased by 44% compared with August 2014 to approximately $90.6 million and a 19.5% decline from the previous month, while money transfers from Armenia to the Russian Federation grew by 7.9% to $17. 9 million, actually as much as was transferred in 2015 July, the Central bank said.

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. The Central Bank expects private money transfers to Armenia to drop this year by 25%.-0-