Money transfers from abroad increase significantly in Moldova in last May

Chisinau, 28 June /MOLDPRES/ - Money transfers from abroad through licenced banks to private people recorded a 19.1-per cent increase in last May against the same period of the year before, after a 7.2-per cent drop in April 2017.  

In May 2017, private persons received financial means worth an equivalent sum of 105.23 million dollars, by 17 million dollars more than in May 2016. The clear tendency of increase, registered in early 2017, inverted in April and recorded a significant increased in May, so that the value of remittances exceeds the last year level by 9.6 per cent. As much as 443 million dollars was transferred through banks in January-May, up by about 40 million dollars against the same period of 2016.  

Data by the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) for the first five months of this year confirms findings of experts from the National Institute of Economic Researches, who said that the increase in transfers in early 2017 after the drop of 30 and, respectively, 4.5 per cent, in 2015 and 2016 was a positive signal.    

“The fluctuations of the exchange rate of the original currencies against the dollar contributed by 1.0 percentage points to the diminution of transfers in May 2017; yet, in reality (while removing the effect of the exchange rate by recalculating the sums at the exchange rate of the concerned period of the last year), a 20.1 per cent increase in transfers was recorded,” BNM said.  

Almost a half of the transfers (49.6 per cent) were made in dollars, 40.9 per cent in euros and 9.5 per cent in Russian roubles.

The transfers of financial means from abroad to private persons (resident or non-resident) represent the sums of money remitted to Moldova through the national banking system, including through international money transfer systems. The sums are recalculated from the original currency of the transfer in U.S. dollars, at the BNM’s official exchange rate on the date of making the transfer. It is worth mentioning that both the origin and the purpose of these sums can be different. They include, besides the remittances by Moldovan migrants working abroad, also other currency transfers. The data does not include discounts of banks from the left bank of Dniester.    

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)