YEREVAN, October 31. /ARKA/. Armenia expects a modest growth in the volume of remittances in 2017, the bulk of which is sent by Armenian labor migrants working in the Russian Federation, finance minister Vardan Aramyan said today during a parliamentary hearing of the next year’s draft budget.

He said their amount slashed dramatically since the middle of 2014 when the West slapped a string of sanctions against Moscow, and as a result, from June 2014 to June 2016 the amount of remittances from Russia fell by $900 million, which is affecting the currency exchange rate and economic growth.

The minister said that according to estimates of international organizations, Russia’s economy is expected to improve slightly next year.

"This means that the Russian economy begins to stabilize, which has been  evident since the first quarter of 2016 and we expect it to have a positive effect on the volume of remittances sent from Russia to Armenia," - Aramyan said.

According to the Central Bank of Armenia, private money transfers to Armenia in the first 8 months of 2016 fell by 10.5% form the year before to $914.3 million. -0-