DUSHANBE, November 8, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- The global financial crisis may result in the number of Tajik labor migrants reducing and the volumes of their remittances decreasing, World Bank Lead Economist, Mr. Sudarshan Kanagaraja, said during presentation of the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) for Tajikistan at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MoEDT) in Dushanbe on November 7.  

Noting that experts expect the end of the global financial crisis to be still far away, he noted that according to the WB estimates, some one third of Tajikistan’s population currently works outside the country.    

The world financial crisis may result in employer countries’ requirements in manpower reducing that will lead to decrease in the volumes of labor migrants’ remittances, Mr. Kanagaraja said.  

He added that labor migrants remitted some US$1.5 billion to Tajik banks in 2007, which was 36 percent of GDP for 2007.

According to the World Bank, in the territorial cross section the proportions of labor migrants are: Sughd province – 37 percent; Khatlon province – 33 percent; districts subordinate to the center -- 24 percent; Gorno Badakhshan – 5 percent; and Dushanbe – 1 percent.