IN 2007 NON-OFFICIAL TRANSFERS WILL INCREASE BY 15-20%, CBA CHAIRMAN FORECASTS

Noyan Tapan
Feb 05 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the Central Bank of
Armenia (CBA), in 2006, the total amount of non-official transfers
(remittances by natural persons) from abroad to Armenia made 960 mln
USD, exceeding by 28% the 2005 index. The amount of such transfers
made through the banking system made 750 mln USD.

The CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsian said at the February 5 press
conference that it is forecast that the total amount of remittances
will increase by 15-20% in 2007 on 2006. These forecasts are based on
estamates about Russia’s high economic growth rate in 2007, as well
as on results of surveys in the US and Russia, according to which
Armenians working in these countries will increase their financial
transfers to relatives in Armenia.

In the opinion of T. Sargsian, the fact that the laws on migrant
workers were made stricter in Russia will not have an impact on the
amounts of remittances sent from this country to Armenia. He did not
rule out an inflow of remittances from Iran, Lebanon and Syria. He
mentioned that natural persons from these countries made non-regular
monetary transfers in 2005-2006 in connection with certain political
events.

According to T. Sargsian, the CBA will continue removing dollars from
the currency market in order to neutralize the effect of such an amount
of remittances (mainly of dollars) on inflation. The CBA will use the
dollars attracted to issue and place its own additional bonds. In his
words, in 2006, the price of removing excessive liquidity in this way
was 5% of the bonds’ value. "We pay this price for ensuring financial
stability," T. Sargsian said.