In January, money transfers to Georgia declined by 40.8% compared to the same period of last year and totaled $263.4 million, the volume of funds transferred from Georgia declined by 1.5% to $25.9 million. The National Bank of Georgia said on its website.
According to the regulator, the annual decline in remittances is caused by the base effect and the decrease in remittances from Russia.
„In January, remittances from Russia declined by 75% year-on-year and totaled $68 million, however, remittances from the USA keep on growing at a high rate of 32.9%. A volume of money transfers from the countries of the region, including Kazakhstan, increased moderately by 7.4%. Apart from that, remittances from Israel are still growing (a 4.7% growth). In January, remittances from the countries of the region, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan declined by 39.8% and 2.9%, respectively. Its worth mentioning that the majority of the funds still come from the EU countries – 39.2%, with the share of 25.7% of the total amount. Russia came in second with the share of 25.7% of the total amount, followed by the United States (14.4%). Among the countries of the European Union, the high share of Italy, Greece and Germany in total remittances is worth noting," the central bank’s report reads.
