Moldovans working abroad send home more than half billion dollars in first semester of 2017

Chisinau, 28 July /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova’s citizens working abroad sent home financial means equivalent to about 540 million dollars though banks in the first half of 2017. The overall transfers to private people amounted to 551 million dollars, according to data by the National Bank of Moldova (BNM).  

BNM noted that about two per cent of all remittances accounted for transfers to non-residents, who temporarily stay in Moldova, pensions (social and allowance for board) and allowances, as well as salary payments to resident private persons from representations of international financial institutions, international organizations, representations of foreign economic agents in Moldova.  

BNM’s data shows that the transfers of money means grew by 9.7 per cent in the first six months of this year against 2016 and exceeded the level of 2015. The central bank’s data for the first half of 2017 confirms findings of experts from the National Institute of Economic Researches, who were estimating that the rise in transfers since the beginning of 2017, after the decreases of 30 per cent and 4.5 per cent in 2015 and 2016, respectively, was a positive signal.  

In last June, most money was sent to Moldova from Russia (38.71 million dollars), Israel (17.80 million dollars) and Italy (13.20 million dollars), USA – (8.01 million dollars), United Kingdom (5.26 million dollars). According to BNM data, the structure of transfers from abroad to private people according to currencies has changed. The remittances in U.S. dollars have the main share of 49 per cent, decreasing by 0.9 percentage points against June 2016, followed by transfers in euros – 41.1 per cent (increasing by 5 percentage points) and the ones in Russian roubles – 9.9 per cent (decreasing by 4.1 percentage points).  

The transfers of money from abroad to private persons (resident and non-resident) represent the sums of money sent 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. The data does not include discounts by banks from the left bank of Dniester.   

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)