Zoran Pavlovic, an economic expert, estimates that the total real remittances from abroad in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) will decrease by at least a billion BAM this year, and he warns that part of the remittances is not sent through an account, but is brought in cash so domestic institutions do not register them as remittances or transfers.
Transfers from abroad to BiH for the first quarter of 2020 amount to 636.7 million BAM and are decreased by 3.4 percent compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Central Bank of BiH, Fokus news portal reports.
Considering the fact that remittances have been constantly growing in previous years, it can be assumed that the decline in transfers was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which spread significantly in the final period of the first quarter.
The Central Bank of BiH told that the data for the second quarter will be known at the end of September, so it will be possible to see in a more detailed way to what extent all transfers were reduced during the crisis.
“Other current transfers in the first quarter of 2020 amount to 294.1 million BAM, of which 276.2 million BAM refer to social benefits, ie pensions from abroad. In the same period of last year, other current transfers amounted to 282 million BAM, of which 270 million BAM referred to pensions from abroad,” it was said at this financial institution.
Apart from that, the Central Bank considers remittances from abroad as transfers, which make more than 60 percent of all transfers, while the rest refers to other transfers, in which pensions paid from abroad to BiH citizens have the largest share.
