On February 2, Tajikistan’s government approved an “anti-crisis program” designed to stimulate economic growth by creating 200,000 new jobs (Ozodi, February 2). While the details of the stimulus plan are uncertain, the causes of Tajikistan’s current economic woes are clear. In particular, the Russian economic crises and the devaluation of the ruble, caused by a combination of Western sanctions and low oil prices, have hit Tajikistani migrant laborers in Russia hard. Conservative estimates put the number of Tajikistani migrants in Russia at one million, and their combined remittances account for nearly half of Tajikistan’s GDP, making it the most remittance-dependent …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation