armenpress: $544 MILLION TRANSFERRED BY ARMENIANS ABROAD IN 2003 TO RELATIVES

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: The amount of cash sent home by Armenians working abroad, the main source of income for thousands of families, reached last year some $544 million, as much as Armenia’s budget was, showing an $85 million growth over the previous year.

According to Armenia’s Central Bank, Russia accounts for most of the remittances increasingly handled by local commercial banks. Some $395 million were remitted from Russia, followed by the USA- almost $60 million, Germany-$13.1 million and Switzerland-$10.2 million.