DUSHANBE, February 19, 2009, Asia-Plus  - Labor migrants’ remittances to Tajikistan may decrease by some 30 percent this year, Mr. Axel Schimmelpfennig, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission to Tajikistan, remarked at a press conference in Dushanbe on February 18.

According to him, this will result from the global slowdown, especially a slowdown in Russia, which is the major source of remittances to Tajikistan.  Decrease in the volume of remittances to the country will have serious impact on Tajikistan’s economy, the IMF mission head noted.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Luc Moers, IMF Resident Representative in Tajikistan, noted that compared to January 2008 remittances made to Tajikistan in January 2009 decreased by 20 percent.

According to the IMF estimates, migrants remitted 2.2 billion US dollars to banks in Tajikistan last year and remittances were projected at 45 percent of the country’s GDP in 2008.