Moldovans sent over €300m in remittances in four months

Over the first four months of this year, the Moldovans working abroad have sent home nearly the equivalent of the tax revenues in the similar period, meaning 4.77 billion Moldova lei (or €307.04 million), Info-Prim Neo reports, citing the National Bank of Moldova. Gross revenues to the State Budget in the first four months of 2008 amounted to 4.97 billion lei. According to the central bank, most of the money was sent in April – €99.74 million – a month that preceded Orthodox Easter. Compared with the similar period last year, remittances sent to Moldova rose by 64.2 percent, almost doubling in the last three years. The largest part of the money is sent by Moldovan migrant workers from Russia and Italy. A couple of years ago, Moldovans would use bank and money transfers to send merely 30 to 40 percent of the total remittances, compared to 70-80 percent at present. This year remittances are forecast to stand at $1.5 billion, which is equivalent to the foreign direct investment attracted into the country since the declaration of independence.