Central Bank Chairman: Armenia’s economy becomes more independent of money transfers from abroad

YEREVAN, 3 June. /ARKA/. The decreasing amount of incoming money transfers to Armenia is a positive trend as it demonstrates that the country's economy has become less dependent on those, Chairman of Armenia’s Central Bank Martin Galstyan told ARKA at a press conference on Monday.

“The proportion of money transfers from abroad in our GDP has changed significantly,” he said, revealing that only 8% of Armenia’s GDP is from incoming money transfers as of now, compared to 18% ten years ago.

Galstyan says this happens due to various reasons, one of them being geopolitical developments.

“Russia has long been the most popular destination for our workforce,” he said, adding that for many years roughly 80% of money transfers coming to Armenia have been from Russia.

Another important factor is the narrowing gap between the salaries in Russia and Armenia.

“Say, a person is working in the construction industry, and now there’s no big difference between how much money they can make in Russia and in Armenia, so the opportunity to work in Russia is now much less attractive for our citizens than it used to be,” he said.

Finally, one more important factor is a large boost in money transfers following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although it is hard to classify those statistically, Galstyan noted.

The record figures of 2022 are history, he said, as now most of the figures are close to their natural levels, the Central Bank Chairman said.

Individuals in Armenia received a total of $327.5 million worth of transfers from abroad in Q1 2024, compared to $719.7 million in Q1 2023, according to the data provided by the Central Bank of Armenia.