Central Bank: Remittances reached 251 ml EUR in the first semiannual

Based on a report of Central Bank, the remittances of the Albanian emigrants reached 251 ml EUR in the first semiannual of 2014, approximately the same amount as the one recorded during the previous year. The remittances have remained at the same level but according to experts, this has come due to a revival of the Eurozone economy during this year.

The remittances have been decreasing considerably since 2007,  due to a number of factors: the global fallout from the financial crisis and the economic crisis in Italy and Greece, in which live and work more than one million Albanians.

Official data from the Central Bank show that during the May-July period, the remittances reached 135 ml EUR, up to 5 ml EUR more than the same period of the previous year. This came as a result of a revival of the Italian and Greek economy, and it is expected that this exit from recession to influence in the increase of remittances and the economic improvement of the emigrants’ families in Albania.

The remittances started to decrease particularly after the financial crisis in 2008, whereat the number of unemployed people increased and as a cause, many Albanian emigrants returned to Albania.

News source: ATA

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