Russia’s economic contraction will curb the growth prospects this year for ex-Soviet republics in central Asia and the Caucasus, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Declining remittances from migrant workers in Russia will take a heavy toll on countries from Armenia to Tajikistan, while oil producers such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan also have to wrestle with sharply lower global crude prices.
The EBRD released forecasts for the region during its annual meeting, held this year in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
“As the Russian economy has declined, remittances from Russia to Central Asia and to eastern Europe and the Caucasus have been declining at an alarming rate,” the EBRD said.
Neighbouring Armenia, heavily dependent on aid and Russian investment, will contract by 1.5 percent this year and grow by 1 percent in 2016, the EBRD predicted.