YEREVAN, February 9, / ARKA /. Private remittances sent to Armenia via banks in 2016 dropped by 6% from the year earlier to more than $1.5 billion, according to the Central Bank of Armenia. However, the amount of remittances from Armenia to other countries increased by 7.36% to $816.9 million. As a result, the net inflow of remittances fell to about $715.9 million (a 17.7% decline). The figure is comparable with the indicators of 2007.

The bulk of remittances –about 60% of all private remittances - comes from the Russian Federation.
The decline in private remittances to Armenia, which started in 2014, was triggered by a dramatic devaluation of the Russian national currency- the ruble and worsening economic conditions. Prior to these negative developments about 80% of private remittances came to Armenia from Russia.

Remittances sent to Armenia largely by Armenian labor migrants, along with foreign investments are one of the main factors of economic growth. According to the Central Bank, in 2013 some $2.3 billion were remitted to Armenia (about 17-18% of GDP).

Experts and government officials expect private remittances to grow this year. Particularly, Armenia’s finance minister Vardan Aramyan believes that the amount of remittances sent to Armenia by labor migrants in 2017 from the Russian Federation will increase by 4-5%. He says the Russian ruble has been showing signs of getting stronger in recent months.

"This is encouraging, and if these positive trends in Russia go on, expectations will be also positive, which will have in turn a positive effect on the volume of remittances coming from Russia," - Aramyan says.

In his opinion, there are other positive factors, in particular, if the price of oil rises, that will also have a positive impact on the well-being of Armenian migrant workers in Russia. "On the whole, taking into account all these factors, we expect a modest but positive growth in the volume of remittances in 2017 by 4-5%," - Aramyan says. -0-