Remittances from Italy almost halved, from Greece and Spain dropped significantly

Remittances from Italy almost halved, from Greece and Spain dropped significantly

access_time2020-04-06 10:00:58

Remittances play an increasingly large role in Georgia’s economy and maintaining the stability of the national currency.

 In 2019, $ 1.7 billion was transferred to Georgia from abroad, a growth was observed in the beginning of 2020. The largest donors were Russia, Italy, Spain and Greece. All these countries are now experiencing a severe economic crisis - oil prices have fallen, quarantine due to COVID-19 has  completely paralyzed economy, reduced household incomes to a minimum.

All this causes a decline in the volume of remittances from abroad and  creates an additional burden both on the national currency exchange rate and on the economy as a whole.

 Despite no official statistics on March exist, a representative of quick money transfer systems speaks about  a sharp decrease in the volume of money transfers.

According to Levan Tavartkiladze, manager of the Intelexpress company, the volume of transfers from Italy, Spain and Greece has significantly decreased.

 “A decline in money  transfers is being observed  globally and affects all countries as many states declared quarantine, the economy has stopped, and incomes have fallen sharply. This is especially true of Italy and this situation has  strongly reflected in Georgia - the amount of transfers from this country decreased by 50% compared with March 2019. A decline is registered  from Spain and Greece, but it  is not so serious as these countries  introduced quarantine  at the end of March. The real decline in money transfers from Spain and Greece will be known in April, ”he explains.

In the words of the founder of Rico Credit MFO Lasha Nikolaishvili, the volume of transfers from abroad decreased by 40%, but at the same time, transfers from Georgia to abroad increased by 20-30%.

 “We mainly work with countries such as Israel, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Germany, the  countries that suffered the main blow of the pandemic. Moreover, it’s worth mentioning  that transfers from Georgia to these countries increased by 20-30%, ” Nikolaishvili notes.


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