YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/.  Net money transfers (both commercial and noncommercial) dropped by 47.2 percent (yoy) in December but were 4 times higher than the previous monthб the World Bank says in its  "Armenia Monthly Economic Update - February 2024".

Money transfer inflows contracted 19.4 percent (yoy), driven by a 30 percent drop in inflows from Russia.

On the other hand, outflows increased by 9.6 percent (yoy), with Monaco, Russia, the UAE, and the USA as the main destinations.

The exchange rate against the USD has been relatively stable since the beginning of 2024 while remaining about 2 percent weaker in yoy terms in early February (Figure 4). International reserves stood at USD 3.6 billion at end-January 2024, similar to the end-2023 level . A budget deficit of AMD 126 billion was recorded in December 2023, accounting for two thirds of the total 2023 deficit of AMD 189 billion.

According to the Central Bank of Armenia, private cross-border money transfers amounted to $64.4 million in December 2023 against $15.9 million in November and against $119 million in December 2022. -0-