The reason for such a drop could be that many of the countries in which Romanians are working are subject to economic difficulties, such as Italy and Spain.

Remittances transferred to Romania in 2007, which include especially funds sent back to the country by Romanians working abroad, amounted to €7.16 billion, up 29.3 percent year-on-year, according to data provided by the central bank. However, financial analysts estimate that of this amount, effective remittances are worth some €5.5-6 billion. It was expected that Romanians working aboard would send home €1 billion at Christmas 2007 alone. Remittances transferred in the first two months advanced 20.4 percent compared to the first tow months in 2007, to €1.21 bln

Funds sent to Romania by its workers abroad covered, for the most part, the country’s current account deficit. In 2007, that deficit rose 66.1 percent, to reach €16.95 billion (13.9 percent of GDP). In 2008, the current account deficit is expected to amount to 15 percent of GDP), due to improved trade balance.