United National Development Programme (UNDP) in cooperation with International Monetary Fund (IMF), Central Bank of Kosovo, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economic Development will repeat a Kosovo Remittance Survey.

The survey will be based on interviews of 8,000 households, along with interviews of migrants who send remittances. The interviews will be conducted in July and August 2011, during the peak period of the Diaspora travel in Kosovo. The survey shall be based on a representative sample for Kosovo-Albanian, Kosovo-Serb, and other non-Serb minority populations.

The survey is a follow-up for the Kosovo Remittance Study 2010 that was launched in November 2010. While the Kosovo Remittance Study 2010 stands as a baseline study on the effects of Kosovo diaspora's financial support to Kosovo, the repetition of the study will increase the information about the flow and use of remittances as well as provide a database that allows a longitudinal analysis of remittances.

The study will focus on attitudes towards remittances transfer channels, migrants' willingness to invest in Kosovo and the impact of remittances on the labour market in Kosovo. The results of the study are expected to be launched in October 2011.

A similar survey launched in 2010 found that nearly 20 percent of Kosovan households receive remittances. Financial transfers from abroad seemed to positively affect the situation of the poorer households, namely access to healthcare, education and consumption.

Of the estimated 442 million Euros of remittances (cash and goods), most came from Western European countries. While remittances constitute 11 percent of Kosovo GDP and significantly help offset the pressure from the negative trade balance, the study revealed that most of the cash transfers were used for food, clothing and housing.

Additionally, cash transfers appeared to significantly rely on non-banking channels, which some experts assessed goes to the detriment of the Kosovo banking sector.

Kosovo Remittance Study Project is commissioned by UNDP, USAID and IMF together with the Central Bank of Kosovo, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Statistical Office of Kosovo.

The project aims to present a detailed explanation of the role of remittances as a source of financial support to Kosovans by analyzing the data collected from a large survey of Kosovo households.

These periodical reports also look at the flow and channels of remittances, their use as well as effects of remittances on the receiving households.