By increasing the disposable income of receiving households, remittances are expected to make a significant contribution to the reduction of poverty and the promotion of economic growth. The migrant-sending countries of North and Central Asia, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are among the top remittance recipients in the subregion. In 2016, remittances received by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan accounted for 34.5 per cent and 26.9 per cent respectively of the countries' GDP, placing them among the top remittance recipients in the world (World Bank, 2017b). Even with such impressive inflows, however, the development potential of remittances in North and Central Asian countries remains not fully realized.