OREANDA-NEWS. May 19, 2009. In January-March 2009, the volume of remittances to Moldova from individuals from abroad through commercial banks amounted to US227.08 million, decreasing by US 93.59 million, or 29, 2% as compared to the same period of 2008.

According to the National Bank of Moldova, US 181.46 million, or 80% of the total remittances in I quarter of 2009, was sent through the fast money transfer systems. In January-March 2008, this index made US 261.56 million, or 81.6%, respectively.

As it was reported before, in 2008 the volume of remittances to Moldova from individuals from abroad through commercial banks amounted to US 1 billion 660.06 million, increasing by 36,3% as compared to the previous year.

The volume of remittances from Moldovan labor migrants was steadily increasing till July 2008, but since August, due to the global financial crisis, the volume of remittances from Moldovan guest workers began to decline.

The largest amounts of remittances were sent from Russia and Italy. According to the World Bank, the Moldovan guest workers’ remittances make up about one-third of the country's GDP.