Exports up 8.7% y/y in September 2020
In September 2020, exports increased by 8.6% y/y to US$ 332.0mn, posting the first expansion in 8 months according to Geostat. Imports reduction also slowed to 9.0% y/y to US$ 731.3mn in September. As a result, trade deficit narrowed by 19.8% y/y to US$ 399.3mn.
In September 2020, copper (+77.0% y/y), cars (-37.9% y/y), ferro-alloys (+5.9% y/y), wine (+13.8% y/y) and nuts (+75.3% y/y) were the top 5 exported commodities. A 17.9% of exports were directed to the EU (+21.9% y/y), 44.1% to the CIS (-6.7% y/y) and 38.1% to other countries (+26.0% y/y).
Copper (+179.9% y/y), cars (-55.4% y/y), petroleum (-40.2% y/y), pharmaceuticals (-9.2% y/y) and gases (-9.4% y/y) represented the top 5 imported commodities in September 2020.
Overall, in 9M20, trade deficit was down 18.5% to US$ 3.3bn as exports reduced by 12.1% y/y to US$ 2.4bn and imports decreased by 15.9% y/y to US$ 5.7bn.
Producer price index up 5.9% y/y in September 2020
Annual PPI for industrial goods was up 5.9% in September 2020 from 4.9% in previous month, according to Geostat. Price changes in manufacturing (+4.8% y/y) and mining (+19.6% y/y) contributed the most to the overall index change.
NBG sold US$ 40mn
On 22 October 2020, the NBG intervened on the FX market and sold US$ 40mn to limit GEL volatility. This was 18th FX intervention YTD for a total sale of US$ 569.7mn through FX auctions.
