The diaspora's millions create a “2” budget Kosovo

Arben Imer from Kosovo has been living with his family in London of the United Kingdom for some 23 years. He visits his parents each year in his hometown of Podujevo.

Arben shows that each month he sends money to his parents in Kosovo. He says that the largest amount of money has been sent after the end of the war for the reconstruction of the house, but now sends money every month.

I am sending nearly 300-400 euros a month to my parents in Kosovo. Already these (parents) are better for the economic situation, less I help them. Right after the end of the war, we sent more”, says Imer.

It is not only Arben, an exile who sends money to Kosovo. For the first five months of this year alone, the value of remittances (money sent from the diaspora), according to the Central Bank of Kosovo, has reached 332m euros.

Last year, however, the value of remittances has exceeded 800m euros, marking the highest value in the last decade.

But, the amount of remittances from the diaspora within a year is considered to be even higher, as some of the means are believed to enter Kosovo through other forms, which may not be included in the official data of the Kosovo Central Bank.

The rating of remittances, some of the experts on economic issues, consider the second budget of the Republic of Kosovo, which exclusively belongs to improving the social welfare of citizens, as opposed to Kosovo's overall budget, which in certain cases, according to them, is misused.

Safet Gerjaliu, an expert on economic issues, says the important source of incomes and social stability of family economies in Kosovo continue to be remittances.

Kosovo is lucky to have two budgets, a budget is one that passes into Parliament, and more is the sweat of Kosovars' citizens and businesses, which unfortunately, deemed to be misused in particular as a consequence of non-rule rule and law. And we have another budget that is almost equal that comes from the diaspora and is a guarantee of social stability in Kosovo, an economic growth in four percent, because it is known that the only indicator is consumption”, Gerjaliu says.

The other expert on economic issues, Naim Gashi, says the value of remittances from Kosovo citizens living in different states of Europe and the world is financial support for citizens, but also for the country's overall economy.

“A third of Kosovo's budget is based on direct remittances of our diaspora that are over 700m euros and over 1.3 billion euros estimated to be diaspora expenditures during their stay during the summer and holiday season in Kosovo. Therefore, Kosovo's economy without the diaspora would be in a position abroad usually difficult”.

“means that the diaspora directly affects the long-term economic growth because it is estimated as a net export of Kosovo, for the fact that Kosovo does not send goods and services abroad, but Kosovo's economy benefits financial means worth about 2 billion euros”, Gashi told Radio Free Europe.

Based on official notes, there are among the 700,000 Kosovo citizens living in different countries of Europe and the world.

According to the Kosovo Statistics Agency data, only last year, around 29,000 Kosovo citizens have emigrated to different European Union countries and beyond.

And during 2013, dealt with more than 170 thousand citizens from Kosovo. This data has included regular and irregular migration and that a considerable number emigrated seeking asylum.