FDI stood at 6.6% of GDP in 2Q20
FDI was slightly up 0.5% y/y to US$ 238mn (6.6% of GDP) in 2Q20, according to Geostat’s preliminary figures. Notably, reinvestments accounted for 60.8% of total FDI in 2Q20. The financial sector was the largest FDI recipient at US$ 78.1mn (32.9% of total), followed by energy at US$ 29.6mn (-66.3% y/y, 12.5% of total), construction at US$ 27.7mn (+273.4% y/y, 11.7% of total), mining at US$ 27.6mn (+130.5 y/y, 11.6% of total) and manufacturing at US$ 20.8mn (-49.0% y/y, 8.8% of total). UK topped the list of investors with US$ 58.9mn (24.8% of total), followed by Netherlands at US$ 53.2mn (22.4% of total), Turkey at US$ 31.5mn (13.3% of total) and USA at US$ 19.9mn (8.4% of total).
International reserves at all-time high US$ 3.9bn in August 2020
Gross international reserves increased by 6.4% y/y to an all-time high of US$ 3.9bn in August 2020 according to NBG. The reserves were also up by 2.4% (+US$ 92mn) on a monthly basis. Notably, there were 2 FX auctions in August, where NBG sold US$ 60mn.Growth in reserves was attributed to the disbursement of donor funding.
NBG sold US$ 40mn
On 10 September 2020, the NBG intervened on the FX market and sold US$ 40mn to limit GEL volatility. This was 12th FX intervention YTD for a total sale of US$ 369.7mn through FX auctions.
