Real GDP growth was 4.0% y/y in June 2018
Georgia’s economy grew by 4.0% y/y in June 2018 after growing 7.5% y/y in previous month, according to GeoStat’s rapid estimates. In June 2018, the growth was posted in transport, hotels and restaurants, financial intermediation and trade sectors. Overall, real GDP growth was 5.7% y/y in 1H18. Monthly rapid estimates are based on VAT turnover, fiscal and monetary statistics.
Inflation was 2.8% y/y and -0.3% m/m in July 2018
Annual CPI inflation was 2.8% in July 2018 up from 2.2% in June 2018, according to GeoStat. Core inflation was down to 1.4% from 1.6% in previous month. Annual price changes were driven by price increases in transport (+6.9% y/y, +0.93ppts), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.3% y/y, +0.67ppts), housing, water, electricity and gas (+5.2% y/y, +0.43ppts) and healthcare (+5.0% y/y, +0.42ppts) categories. On a monthly basis, there was 0.3% deflation in July 2018. Price decrease in food and non-alcoholic beverages (-1.1% m/m, -0.32ppts) was the major driver of monthly inflation dynamics.
Tourist arrivals up 15.0% y/y in July 2018
Total international visits to Georgia increased 10.7% y/y to 0.85mn visitors in July 2018, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A 15.0% y/y growth in tourist arrivals (0.57mn trips, 66.8% of total) drove the international visit growth. Out of top countries by visitors, in July 2018, international visitors continued to increase from Russia (+13.8% y/y), Azerbaijan (+9.8% y/y) and Turkey (+20.5% y/y), while visitors were down from Armenia (-4.2% y/y) and Iran (-9.5% y/y).
NBG purchased US$ 17.5mn
On August 1, 2018, the NBG intervened on the FX market and purchased US$ 17.5mn to curb the GEL’s appreciation and build reserves. YTD, the NBG purchased US$ 87.5mn and the GEL strengthened 5.6% against the USD.
