International arrivals up 17.2% y/y in April 2016
Arrivals posted robust growth for the third consecutive month, increasing 17.2% y/y to 0.46mn persons in April 2016, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Increased arrivals from Azerbaijan (+17.6% y/y, 22.9% of total), Russia (+26.9% y/y, 16.0% of total), Turkey (+12.0% y/y, 25.1% of total), and Armenia (+8.7% y/y, 22.8% of total) contributed the most to the growth. In 4M16, total arrivals increased 15.4% y/y to 1.60mn persons.
Inflation rate at 3.2% y/y and -0.6% m/m in April 2016
Annual CPI inflation rate was recorded at 3.2% in April 2016 down from 4.1% in previous month, according to GeoStat. Overall price changes were driven by price increases in health (+7.5% y/y, +0.72ppts), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+14.7% y/y, +0.89ppts), and food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.9% y/y, +0.58ppts) categories. Meanwhile, prices in the transport category decreased (-6.1% y/y, -0.75ppts), as prices were down for the purchase of vehicles.
On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.6% in April after 0.3% deflation in March. Price decreases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (-0.7% m/m, -0.23ppts) and health (-1.9% m/m, -0.19ppts) and price increase in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+1.6% m/m, +0.10ppts) categories were the major drivers of the monthly inflation dynamics.
Tax revenues up 8.2% y/y in April 2016
Consolidated budget tax revenues were up 8.2% y/y to GEL 636mn in April 2016. In 4M16, consolidated budget tax revenues stood at GEL 2.7bn, up 8.3% y/y.
NBG buys US$ 20mn
On 5 May 2016, NBG intervened for the 6th time on a purchasing side since Mar-16 and bought US$ 20mn aimed at curbing the appreciation of the national currency, which strengthened 0.8% w/w and 7.6% YTD against the US$. The central bank bought total of US$ 75mn in these 6 interventions in a period between March 17 and May 5. In Jan-16, the central bank made 3 interventions by selling total of US$ 60mn. As a result, NBG is a net buyer of US$ 15mn YTD.
Gross international reserves stood at US$ 2.5bn as of end-April 2016
Gross international reserves increased 1.1% y/y, while on a monthly basis reserves were flat, reaching US$ 2.5bn as of end-April 2016, according to NBG. The growth in reserves was attributed to NBG’s 3 FX interventions with a total purchase of US$ 40mn in April.
