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"In the regional context we see that the excise taxes in Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan are radically low. The difference is more than one dollar [per package]. This fact is quite a great temptation for people engaged in illegal trade. Accordingly, the share of illegal trade may increase. This process has already begun in recent years. Illegal trade and consumption on the lower-end products have reflected in our sales,” he said.
Zoidze added that consumers were obtaining raw tobacco, which is seven to eight times cheaper than imported cigarettes, but was not subject to quality checks. Smuggling and use of raw tobacco would significantly affect the government’s budget, the lawmaker noted.
Cigarette prices increased by an average of 50 tetri ($0.19/€0.16) in Georgia following amendments to the tax code that came into play on January 1.
6.2 ​Debt
Georgia - Gross external debt
4Q17 1Q18 2Q18 3Q18 4Q18 1Q19 2Q19 3Q19 4Q19 1Q20
Gross external debt ($ mn)
17,319 17,809 17,461 17,299 17,812 17,822 18,232 17,902 18,631 18,282
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Gross external debt (% GDP)
81.2 84.6 83.2 84.7 109.4 110.7 106.4 101.3 105.4
source: CEIC, World Bank
Georgia's public external debt up by 3.1% of GDP in July
Georgia's public external debt increased by Georgian lari (GEL) 1.49bn (nearly $500mn and equivalent to 3.1% of GDP) in July.
According to the Georgian finance ministry, the total such debt at the end of July amounted to GEL20.26bn ($6.59bn, 41% of GDP), while in June the figure was GEL18.77bn. Of the total public external debt at the end of July, the external debt of the government stood at GEL19.48bn and that of the central bank reached GEL781mn.
The largest creditors of the state of Georgia are Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank International Development Association (IDA), European Investment Bank (EIB) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
The debt owed to IDA is GEL2.85bn ($935mn), the ADB debt stands at GEL4.36bn ($1.43bn) and the EIB debt is GEL1.88bn ($620mn).
The gross external debt of Georgia amounted to $18.28bn as of first quarter of 2020, falling from $18.63bn in the fourth quarter of last year. ​It accounted for 105.4% of GDP in 2019. Gross external debt include both public sector (general government, public corporations and national bank) and private sector (banking and other sectors) external debt.
30​ GEORGIA Country Report ​November 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com