Inflation was 2.2% y/y and 1.3% m/m in January 2019
Annual CPI inflation was 2.2% in January 2019 up from 1.5% in previous month, according to Geostat. Core inflation was 1.7% in January 2019 up from 0.9% recorded in previous month. Annual price changes were driven by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.2% y/y, +1.00ppts), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+10.1% y/y, +0.66ppts) and healthcare (+3.4% y/y, +0.28ppts) categories, while prices were down in clothing and footwear (-8.8% y/y, -0.32ppts). On a monthly basis, there was 1.3% inflation in January 2019, affected by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.2% m/m, +0.98ppts) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+5.8% m/m, +0.39ppts) categories.
Tourist arrivals up 5.9% y/y in January 2019
Total international arrivals to Georgia decreased by 0.6% y/y to 0.44mn in January 2019, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This drop was on the back of reduced same-day arrivals (-13.1% y/y), as tourists arrivals increased by 5.9% y/y (0.31mn trips, 70.0% of total). Out of top countries, in January 2019, international visitors increased from Russia (+16.8% y/y), Ukraine (3.6% y/y) and Israel (+132.1% y/y), while visitors were down from Azerbaijan (-3.4% y/y), Armenia (-5.0% y/y) and Turkey (-20.2% y/y). Visitors from the EU were up 36.0% y/y to over 15,000 visitors, with Germany and Poland driving growth.
International reserves stood at US$ 3.4bn in January 2019
Gross international reserves were up 10.9% y/y to US$ 3.4bn in January 2019 according to NBG. Change in reserves was attributed to FX auctions (total purchase of US$ 85.0mn in January), government FX operations and/or asset revaluation.
NBG purchased US$ 15.0mn
On 6 February 2019, the NBG intervened on the FX market and purchased US$ 15.0mn. The NBG purchased US$ 100mn YTD on its 7 FX auctions.
