Tourist arrivals up 15.1% y/y in October 2018
Total international visits to Georgia increased 8.5% y/y to 0.61mn in October 2018, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A 15.1% y/y growth in tourist arrivals (0.41mn trips, 66.6% of total) drove the growth. Out of top countries, in October 2018, international visitors continued to increase from Russia (+30.5% y/y) and Azerbaijan (+4.7% y/y), while visitors were down from Armenia (-2.9% y/y), Turkey (-12.1% y/y) and Iran (-4.5% y/y). Total international visitors stood at 6.3mn (+12.5% y/y) in 10M18 while tourist arrivals stood at 4.2mn (+17.5% y/y).
International reserves stood at US$ 3.1bn in October 2018
Gross international reserves were up 5.1% y/y to US$ 3.1bn in October 2018, according to NBG. On a monthly basis, reserves were down 1.8%. There were no FX interventions in October and change in reserves was attributed to government FX operations and/or asset revaluation.
NBG purchased US$ 10.0mn
On November 9, 2018, the NBG intervened on the FX market and purchased US$ 10.0mn. Overall, during April-November 2018, the NBG purchased US$ 122.5mn on its 11 FX auctions.
