Source of transfer jump remained unknown

In the database of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) statistics of transfers by physical persons through the banking system is published in a separate file.

It’s constantly being updated per months. In the beginning of ongoing year after the update a curious snapshot was observed. It turned out that in December 2016 compared with the same period of previous year money transferred to Armenia recorded sharp growth (by USD 43.5 million or 26%).

This growth is curious in two senses. Firstly, in the period of previous year transfers were decadent and this unexpected and impressive growth diverted from the general snapshot, especially, when factors impacting over decrease of transfers haven’t weakened.

The second noteworthy fact is that transfer growth wasn’t conditioned by Russia. From USD 43.5 million growth only USD 5.8 million is shared by Russia. And transfers from the USA have grown by USD 200 thousand only.

Obviously sharp growth of flow has been recorded from another country. However, it’s impossible to say from where exactly, as in CBA file only general index and indices of Russia and the USA are introduced.

We decided to wait for CBA Bulletin, where transfer statistics from 10 top countries is being introduced.

The Bulletin has been issued, however, the question remained unanswered yet. In case of none of the top 10 countries considerable money transfer flow isn’t recorded. Instead, money transferred from other countries didn’t grow by more than USD 35 million. Official data don’t mention exact country.