Inflation was 2.3% y/y and 0.3% m/m in February 2019
The annual CPI inflation was recorded at 2.3% in February 2019 slightly up from 2.2% in previous month, according to Geostat. Core inflation was 1.3% in February 2019 down from 1.7% in previous month. Annual price changes were driven by price increases in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+16.1% y/y, +1.06ppts), food and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.9% y/y, +0.90ppts) and healthcare (+3.4% y/y, +0.29ppts) categories, while prices were down in clothing and footwear (-11.1% y/y, -0.4ppts). On a monthly basis, there was 0.3% inflation in February 2019, affected by price increase in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+6.7% m/m, +0.47ppts), and price reduction in clothing and footwear (-4.6% m/m, -0.16ppts) categories.
Tourist arrivals up 5.1% y/y in February 2019
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia decreased by 1.2% y/y to 0.39mn in February 2019, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This drop was attributed to reduced same-day arrivals (-10.7% y/y), as tourists arrivals increased by 5.1% y/y (0.25mn trips, 63.6% of total). Out of top countries, in February 2019, international visitors increased from Russia (+14.7% y/y), Ukraine (+13.1% y/y) and Israel (+198.4% y/y), while visitors were down from Armenia (-10.7% y/y), Turkey (-19.8% y/y) and Iran (-48.4% y/y). Visitors from the EU were up 29.0% y/y to over 16,000 visitors, with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania driving growth. In 2M19, total international visitors stood at 0.83mn (-0.9% y/y), of which tourist arrivals reached 0.55mn (+5.5% y/y).
International reserves up 15.7% y/y in February 2019
Gross international reserves were up 15.7% y/y to US$ 3.5bn in February 2019, according to NBG. On a monthly basis, reserves increased by 2.7% in February 2019. Change in reserves was attributed to NBG’s FX auctions, government FX operations and/or asset revaluation.
