DUSHANBE, July 15, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Remittances through Tajikistan’s savings bank, Amonatbonk, have reportedly declined.

In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Amonatbonk head Jamshed Nourmahmadzoda revealed on July 15 that remittance through Amonatbonk have declined 17 percent.

“288 million U.S. dollars have been remitted through Amonatbonk over the first six months of this year, which is 17 percent fewer than in the same period last year,” Nourmahmadzoda said, noting that such a situation has been reported in the whole Tajikistan’s banking system.

According to him, this decline has a seasonal nature.  “Many our compatriots had worked on construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi and all these facilities had already been finished,” said Amonatbonk head.  “Besides, Russia has introduced many amendments to its migration legislation that has also affected labor migrants’ remittances.”

He further added that remittances accounted for only 4 percent of the overall income of Amonatbonk.

Remittances are still an important tool for keeping many families in Tajikistan above the poverty line.  Every year, Tajikistan practically receives remittances as much as 50% of GDP.

According to Russia’s central bank, 644 million U.S. dollars has reportedly been sent through money transfer system to Tajikistan from the Russian Federation in the first quarter of this year, which was 35.7 million U.S. dollars fewer than in the same period last year.  The average sum of the remittances to Tajikistan over the report period has also declined -- from 310.00 U.S. dollars in January-March 2013 to 270.00 U.S. dollars in January-March 2014.

We will recall that 4.1543 billion U.S. dollars was sent through money transfer system from Russia to Tajikistan in 2013, which was 520.1 million U.S. dollars more than in 2012.

Meanwhile, Tajik government stopped publishing information on the volume of remittances sent to Tajikistan in May last year.  In a report released in Dushanbe, the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) head Abdujabbor Shirinov revealed on July 23, 2013 that Tajikistan will no longer release cash transfer data.  According to him, the government stopped publishing information on the volume of remittances sent to Tajikistan in May.  “I''d rather not talk about migrants'' funds because this issue may be politicized,” Abdujabbor Shirinov said.

Amonatbonk is the only state-owned bank.  It is one of the oldest in Tajikistan (established in 1925) and one of the largest based upon various criteria - including the number of branches and the number of served clients.  The institution is unique in its orientation towards implementing social, pension and other state programs.  Amonatbonk has 5 regional centers, 69 branches and nearly 500 agencies. This gives the institution a presence in the most remote mountainous parts of the country.