The Russian Financial Crisis and Workers’ Remittances to Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic
Pages 327-343
Mirzosaid Sultonov

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-7092.2016.05.29

Published: 19 December 2016

Abstract: In this paper, we estimate the link between remittances and key macroeconomic variables of the host country (Russia) and the world’s most remittance-dependent economies of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. We mostly focus on the relationship during the ongoing Russian financial crisis. In particular, we estimate the responses of remittances to a shock in the exchange rate and per capita income in Russia and those of the key macroeconomic fundamentals of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic to a shock in remittance inflows. The empirical findings show that remittances serve as a channel to transfer the negative effects of the global and the Russian financial crises from the Russian macroeconomic fundamentals to the macroeconomic indicators of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.