OREANDA-NEWS.  February 12, 2013. Moldova's citizens working abroad sent 1.494.23 billion dollars in 2012, up by 3.5 per cent against the year before, according to data by the National Bank of Moldova (BNM).

Remittances that entered Moldova have been rising for the third year in a row, after they fell by 30 per cent during the economic crisis. Despite the increasing trend, they still did not reach the pre-crisis level, when transfers via banks amounted to 1.660 billion dollars in 2008.

Despite the fact that many European Union countries are facing difficult economic conditions and part of the Moldovans who left for abroad for work failed to find jobs or received lower wages, the flow of remittances did not drop, in fact it has increased.

According to the World Bank’s survey “Migration and remittances”, made public in late 2012, Moldova ranks fifth in the world, with remittances accounting for 23 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product. The study’s authors noted an increase in money flow from the Moldovans working in the Russian Federation. This increase strikingly contrasts with a fall in remittances from Western Europe.

BNM data show a change in the currency structure of the remittances through the international transfer systems. Thus, in 2012, about 38.9 per cent of remittances were sent in dollars, 37.1 per cent in euros and 24 per cent in Russian roubles, against 51.6, 38.7 and 9.7 per cent, respectively, in 2010.

About 700,000 Moldovans work abroad, according to the World Bank data. The money they sent continues to represent a driving force for consumption and economic growth in Moldova.