Inflation was 6.4% y/y and 0.3% m/m in February 2020
Annual CPI inflation was 6.4% in February 2020 unchanged from previous month, according to Geostat. Core inflation (non-food, non-energy, non-tobacco) came in at 3.8%, up from 3.4% in previous month. Annual price changes were driven by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+12.7% y/y, +3.95ppts), restaurants and hotels (+8.7% y/y, +0.39ppts), health (+3.9% y/y, +0.32ppts) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+3.4% y/y, +0.31ppts) categories. Meanwhile, prices were down in clothing and footwear (-1.7% y/y, -0.08ppts) and communication (-1.3% y/y,-0.05ppts) categories. On a monthly basis, there was 0.3% inflation in February 2020. Price increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.3% m/m, +0.40ppts) category was the major driver of monthly inflation dynamics.
International arrivals decreased 0.6% y/y in February 2020
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia decreased by 0.6% y/y to 0.39mn persons in February 2020, according to GNTA. This fall reflected reduced same-day arrivals (-8.6% y/y), as tourist arrivals were up 4.0% y/y (66.6% of total). Out of top countries, in February 2020, international visitors increased from Azerbaijan (+12.8%), Turkey (+3.8% y/y), Ukraine (+14.6% y/y) and Israel (+39.5% y/y), while visitors decreased from Armenia (-18.2% y/y), Russia (-25.0%) and Iran (-8.7% y/y). Visitors from the EU were up 42.1% y/y to over 23,400 visitors, with Poland, Germany, Estonia, Italy and UK driving the growth. In 2M20, total international arrivals stood at 0.91mn (+10.2% y/y), of which tourist arrivals reached 0.62mn (+12.2% y/y) persons. Meanwhile, we estimate tourism revenues at US$ 365.8mn (+9.6% y/y) in 2M20.
International reserves stood at US$ 3.4bn in February 2020
Gross international reserves were down 1.6% y/y to US$ 3.4bn in February 2020, according to NBG. On a monthly basis, reserves were down 1.3% (-US$ 44mn). The decline in reserves was attributed to government and banking sector FX operations and/or asset revaluation
