Gross international reserves stood at US$ 2.5bn as of September 2015
Gross international reserves posted a slight increase (+0.04% m/m, +US$ 1.1mn) to US$ 2.5bn in September 2015, despite the central bank’s intervention on the FX market on September 22, 2015, with a sale of US$ 27mn. Net foreign assets of NBG also increased to US$ 2.2bn (+0.2% m/m, +US$ 4.8mn) in September 2015, according to NBG. The increase in FX reserves was due to government FX operations and/or asset revaluation.
Property registration up 9.1% y/y and company registration down 8.1% y/y in Sept-2015
Property registration (commercial and residential real estate) increased 9.1% y/y (+21.4% m/m), reaching 49,079 units in September 2015, according to National Agency of Public Registry. Registration increased for both primary (+22.3% y/y, 18.9% of total) and secondary (+6.4% y/y, 81.1% of total) properties.
Company registration decreased 8.1% y/y (+35.7% m/m) to 3,859 units in September 2015. Out of newly registered companies, 96.9% were business legal entities, while 3.1% comprised non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities.
IMF updates world economic growth projection
The IMF lowered global growth outlook for 2015 to 3.1% from 3.3% (July 2015 forecast), which is 0.3ppts lower than in 2014, according to the October 2015 World Economic Outlook update. Prospects across the main countries and regions remain uneven: the recovery in advanced economies is expected to pick up slightly, while activity in emerging market and developing economies is projected to slow for the 5th year in a row, primarily reflecting weaker prospects for some large emerging market economies and oil-exporting countries. Expected growth rates in Georgia for 2015 and 2016 are 2% and 3%, respectively, unchanged from the previous IMF projection.