Trade deficit down 11.5% y/y in 2015, excluding one-offs
In 2015, exports decreased 23.0% y/y to US$ 2.2bn, imports fell 15.3% y/y (excluding one-offs) to US$ 7.3bn, and the trade deficit narrowed 11.4% y/y to US$ 5.1bn (in unadjusted terms, the trade deficit decreased 3.7% y/y).
Exports were down mostly because of declined re-exports of cars (-65.3% y/y) and ferro-alloys (-31.9% y/y), while copper ores (+9.1% y/y), and pharmaceuticals (+52.8% y/y) were the major export commodities posting increases.
Exports to the EU reached US$ 646mn (+3.6% y/y), accounting for 29% of Georgia’s total exports, up from 22% in 2014. Imports from the EU were also up by 6.3% y/y to US$ 2.5bn, accounting for 33% in country’s total imports, compared to 28% in 2014. Exports to the CIS markets decreased significantly (-42.7% y/y), bringing its share to 38% of total. Exports to other countries fell 7.1% y/y and accounted for 33% of total exports, out of which Turkey (8.4% of total), and China (5.7% of total) were the largest export destinations.
Import of donated C-hepatitis medicine pushed pharmaceuticals on top of the list of Georgian imports (+136.9% y/y), followed by petroleum (-28.4% y/y), where savings from lower oil import bill amounted to US$ 260.9mn.
NBG sold US$ 20mn
NBG sold US$ 20mn on the FX market to support GEL on January 22, 2016. It was NBG’s second intervention this year, with US$ 20mn sold in previous auction. Lari weakened 1.0% d/d against the US$ over the previous day.
