By Ervin Lisaku
TIRANA, March 17, – Immigrant remittances in 2009 registered their lowest level since 2005, dropping to 799 million euros or 6.5 percent less than in 2008, according to the current account statistics published on Wednesday by the Bank of Albania. Data show Albanian immigrants in 2009 sent 54 million euros less in remittances compared to 2008 and 173 million euros less than in 2007.
Experts say the main cause of the sharp drop in remittances, which are the main source of revenue for thousands of families in Albania, was the increase in unemployment rate mainly in crisis-hit Greece and Italy where more than one million Albanian immigrants live and work.
Remittances in Albania continued their growing trend until 2007 when they registered a record 953 million euros.
However, remittances in the second quarter of 2009 dropped by 4.4 percent compared to the previous year. The sharp declined continues even in the fourth quarter when remittances fell by 7.3 percent, according to Bank of Albania data.
Indirect data show the negative trend has also continued in the first months of this year mainly because of job cuts in Greece which is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades.
The effects of crisis for Albanian immigrants in Greece are also confirmed by a recent survey carried out by the Monitor Research Center. The survey results show a considerable number of Albanian migrants did not go back to Greece after coming to spend their holidays last December in Albania because of lack of jobs in the neighboring country.
Bank of Albania studies show remittances have served to reduce poverty in remote areas and increase investments.
Experts say the drop in remittances will also affect consumption, especially imports whose volume has considerably fallen in the first months of this year, putting government in financial difficulty.
Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund advised the Albanian government to make a budget review to bring down the budget deficit to 3 percent of the GDP this year. The budget deficit in 2009 registered a record 7 percent of the GDP.
