DUSHANBE, May 17, 2013, Asia-Plus -- The findings of the monthly report for May 2013, Monitoring and Early Warning in Tajikistan , show that unofficially reported remittances in April 2013 totaled 267.6 million USD, 10.9% higher than in the same period last year.

According to the report, 178.8 million USD were remitted to banks in Tajikistan in January (8.0 percent higher than in January 2012), 180.3 million USD were remitted to local banks in February (9.0 percent higher than in February 2012), and 221.8 million USD were remitted to local banks in Tajikistan in March (10 percent higher than in March 2012).

Thus, unofficially reported remittances over the first four months of this year have totaled some 848.5 million USD, nearly 9.5 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Remittances are expected to increase as seasonal labor migration increases.

Historical trends indicate that from the end of September to the March next year, the volume of remittances will be reduced compared to the May-August period.  The drop is caused by a seasonal reduction in work in Russia due to cold weather, and many migrants returning home.

Meanwhile, Tajik migration service agency reports more than 380,000 persons have left Tajikistan over the first four months of this year and some 188,000 persons have returned to the country over the report period.

We will recall that 3.5952 billion USD were remitted to banks in Tajikistan last year.  That amount is equal almost to 48 percent of Tajikistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) for 2012.