Migrants feel pinch of Kazakh devaluation

http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-02-240214.html



Migrants feel pinch of Kazakh devaluation
By Farangis Najibullah

When relatives and guests gathered for dinner recently at Mamnuna Bobokulova's rented three-room apartment outside Almaty, there was only one topic of conversation: the impact of the recent devaluation of the tenge, Kazakhstan's national currency.

Bobokulova and her guests are all Tajiks who work as migrant laborers in Kazakhstan. Like anyone else who earns and keepstheir savings in the tenge, migrants, too, have witnessed their funds shrink by nearly 20% overnight as a result of the February 11 devaluation.

Bobokulova says she and fellow migrants have learned quickly that they stand to suffer more when economic and political crises hit their host country. She feels the impact of the devaluation on her and her family when she transfers money to Tajikistan. This is because remittances are transferred only in US dollars.

"Yesterday, I took 30,000 tenges to send to my in-laws. What was equal to US$200 before the devaluation bought only $160," Bobokulova says. "It's a big blow to our family budget. You feel the pain right away."