YEREVAN, February 24. / ARKA /. Arthur Stepanyan, an Armenian Central Bank Board member, said today the regulator expects the amount of private remittances to Armenia this year to grow by 7-9%.

He said private remittances to Armenia in January and first half of February this year saw a 10% rise from the year before.

Under the revised Russian law, citizens of some former Soviet republics, including from Armenia, have the right to remain in the territory of the Russian Federation without registration for only 90 days within every 180 days. This means that citizens of Armenia cannot continually live in Russia for at least six months.

Stepanyan said Armenian authorities are in talks now with Russian peers in a bid to have them ease this requirement for Armenian labor migrants.

According to the Central Bank, more than $1.682 billion were remitted to Armenian in the first 11 months of 2013, by almost 10 percent more from the same time span in 2012

The bulk of remittances - about 85.9% of the total amount- came as usual from Russia. In the 11 months of 2013 they amounted to $1.445.9 billion. The amount of money transfers from Armenia to Russia rose to $161.5 million from $148.2 million in the first 11 months of 2012. -0-