Inflation rate at 4.9% y/y and -0.2% m/m in July 2015
Annual CPI inflation rate was recorded at 4.9% in July 2015, according to GeoStat. Overall price changes were driven by price increases on food and non-alcoholic beverages (+7.1% y/y, +2.03ppts), health (+7.3% y/y, +0.71ppts), and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+11.7% y/y, +0.62ppts), while prices in the transport category decreased 0.8% y/y.
Monthly inflation rate was -0.2% in July 2015. Price increases in health (+0.6% m/m, +0.06ppts) and transport (+0.6% m/m, +0.05ppts) and price drops in food and non-alcoholic beverages (-0.8% m/m, -0.25ppts) were the major drivers of the monthly inflation dynamics.
International arrivals up 9.5% y/y in July 2015 and up 4.9% y/y in 7M15
After a 9.3% spike in June 2015, tourist arrivals posted another significant growth of 9.5% y/y to 0.7mn persons in July 2015, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Significantly increased arrivals from Armenia (+11.9% y/y, 24.4% of total), Azerbaijan (+7.9% y/y, 21.7% of total), and Turkey (+12.1% y/y, 20.6% of total) were the major contributors to growth. Arrivals from the EU increased 10.2% y/y in July. In 7M15, arrivals increased 4.9% y/y to 3.1mn persons.
Gross international reserves stood at US$ 2.45bn end-July 2015
Gross international reserves stood at US$ 2.45bn (-1.5% m/m) and net foreign assets of NBG at US$ 2.22bn (-1.5% m/m) as of end-July 2015, according to NBG.
Tax revenues posted a strong performance in 7M15, up 12.1% y/y
Consolidated budget tax revenues increased 12.1% y/y to GEL 4.6bn in 7M15 and 13.0% y/y to GEL 760.8mn in July 2015. In 7M15, personal income tax revenues grew 15.5% y/y (26.5% of total), VAT receipts +6.6% y/y (42.8% of total), excise tax receipts +10.5% y/y (10.6% of total), profit tax receipts +31.0% y/y (15.2% of total), and property tax receipts +9.5% y/y (3.7% of total). The rest – receipts from custom duties and other taxes – decreased but they have a minor share in total tax revenues.