BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb,. 11
BY Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
The value of money transfers sent from Kazakhstan abroad amounted to 787.7 billion tenge ($1.8 billion) in 2020, which is 20 percent more than in 2019, Trend reports citing the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
The majority of the money transactions were sent to Russia (27.1 percent of total amount), Kyrgyzstan (21 percent), Uzbekistan (19.5 percent) and Turkey (17.4 percent), making up 85.1 percent of the total money transactions value sent during the reporting period.
As compared to 2019, the value of money transactions to Kyrgyzstan and Turkey increased drastically (by 90 percent and 46.4 percent respectively).
In regards to Kyrgyzstan, the National Bank’s report said that the money transactions to this country was at its minimal level in March and April (average of 1.1 billion tenge or $2.6 million a month) with a drastic increase after the COVID-related quarantine was lifted. Following the lifting of the quarantine the money transactions to this country increased to 24.6 billion tenge ($58.8 million) a month.
As for the increase in the volume of transfers to Turkey, the National Bank said it was most likely due to the fact that the country is one of the largest transit hubs through which Kazakhs returned to Kazakhstan during a pandemic and border closures.
In turn, the value of money transfers to Kazakhstan from abroad amounted to 286.9 billion tenge ($686.3 million). The majority of the funds sent to Kazakhstan accounted for Russia (25.8 percent), South Korea (18 percent), Uzbekistan (13.4 percent) and Kyrgyzstan (11.7 percent).
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