Inflation was 7.0% y/y and 0.9% m/m in November 2019
Annual CPI inflation was 7.0% in November 2019 slightly up from 6.9% in previous month, according to Geostat. Core inflation (non-food, non-energy, non-tobacco) came in at 3.5%, up from 3.4% in previous month. Annual price changes were driven by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+13.4% y/y, +4.02ppts), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+15.4% y/y, +1.03ppts), recreation and culture (+7.0% y/y, +0.40ppts) and transport (+3.1% y/y, +0.37ppts) categories, while prices were down in clothing and footwear (-4.4% y/y, -0.15ppts). On a monthly basis, there was 0.9% inflation in November 2019. Price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.2% m/m, +0.41ppts), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+2.0% m/m, +0.14ppts) and recreation and culture (+1.7% m/m, +0.10ppts) categories were the major drivers of monthly inflation dynamics.

International arrivals up 11.9% y/y in November 2019 
Total international arrivals (tourists and same-day arrivals) to Georgia increased by 11.9% y/y to 0.54mn persons in November 2019, according to GNTA. This growth was mostly driven by tourist arrivals (+10.3% y/y, 62.4% of total). Same-day arrivals also increased strongly (+14.8% y/y). Out of top countries, in November 2019, international visitors increased from Armenia (+18.1% y/y), Azerbaijan (+8.1%), Turkey (+25.3% y/y), Israel (+36.3% y/y) and Ukraine (+15.9%). Meanwhile, visitors continued to decline from Russia (-10.9% y/y, slower reduction compared to July-October figures) and Iran (-33.8% y/y). Visitors from the EU were up 38.5% y/y to over 26,000 visitors, with Poland, Germany, Ireland and Estonia driving the growth. In 11M19, total international visitors stood at 7.2mn (+6.6% y/y), of which tourist arrivals reached 4.8mn (+6.3% y/y) persons. Meanwhile, we estimate tourism revenues at US$ 3.1bn (+1.3% y/y) in 11M19. 

International reserves stood at US$ 3.3bn in November 2019
Gross international reserves were up 7.7% y/y to US$ 3.3bn in November 2019, according to NBG. On a monthly basis, reserves were down 1.8% (-US$ 60mn). The monthly decline in reserves was attributed to US$ 20mn sale by NBG on FX auction in November. Other changes in reserves were related to government and banking sector FX operations and/or asset revaluation.