The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan commented on the restrictions on sending of money to the republic imposed by money transfer systems.
According to them, «Methodological recommendations on increasing the level of disclosure of information for individuals when they make transfers of funds without opening an account, including to other countries» were posted on the website of the Central Bank of Russia in April 2019.
According to the information, the recommendations were prepared taking into account Russian and international practice and are aimed at making conditions for such transfers more understandable and transparent for citizens. Banks and their payment agents are advised to provide in advance up-to-date information about the states and localities to which such transfers can be sent, to report through which payment systems and services it is possible to do this, as well as what documents and information are necessary for the operation.
«Zolotaya Korona — Money Transfers payment system informed the commercial banks of the Kyrgyz Republic that in the framework of the implementation of the recommendations of the Bank of Russia dated April 16, 2019 restrictions were imposed on transfers sent from the territory of Russia to Kyrgyzstan. After the notification some commercial banks posted information on limiting the amount of transfers from the Russian Federation on their websites,» the message says.
According to estimates of the National Bank, an average transfer amount made by individuals through money transfer systems is $ 400-500, and an average monthly salary of Kyrgyz citizens in Russia is $ 500-600.
«Taking this into account, the restrictions imposed by Zolotaya Korona — Money Transfers system will not have a significant impact on the remittances of migrant workers. At the same time, given the presence of commercial transactions made through money transfer systems, the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic does not exclude possibility of some impact of certain restrictions on entrepreneurs who use money transfer systems when making payments for goods and services. But, according to our estimates, the share of commercial transactions in the volume of inflow / outflow of remittances is insignificant,» the bank said.
«Restrictions by money transfer systems should not affect the payments made by entrepreneurs for goods and services, since they can send and receive payments for goods and services using current accounts opened in commercial banks on which no restrictions were imposed,» the National Bank summed up.
