Moldovans from abroad transferred over $300m home in Q1

The Moldovans that work abroad in the first three months of this year transferred home through commercial banks US$314.46 million, an increase of 33% compared with the corresponding period last year. According to the National Bank of Moldova, over 74% of the remittances were sent through money transfer systems. This March, remittances totaled US$122.76 million, a rise of 17% on this February. Western Union, Migom, Travelex, Strada Italia, Turkiye Express, Money Gram, Moldova Express, Anelik , Leader are the most popular money transfer systems. Experts consider that the volume of remittances sent to Moldova is much higher than the officially recorded one as many Moldovans use alternative methods of sending money home, not through banks. The central bank says that during 1999-2007 remittances rose by 35-40% a year. During this period, the volume of officially sent remittances increased 13.5 times. In 2007, the remittances totaled US$1.216 billion, in 2006 – US$854.6 million, while in 2005 – US$683.25 million.