Page 19 - GEORptDec21

4.0 Real Economy 4.1 Industrial production
Industrial production climbs 47.86% y/y in 2Q21
Georgia’s industrial production surges 47.8% in the second quarter of 2021, up from an increase of 13.6% in the first quarter, according to the National Statistics Office of Georgia. Production expanded at a faster pace for almost all sectors such as manufacturing, mining and utilities.
4.2 Inflation 4.2.1 CPI dynamics
Georgia’s inflation picks up to 12.8% y/y, driven by food prices
Consumer prices in Georgia rose by 1.3% in October, while the annual inflation rate accelerated from 12.3% y/y in September to 12.8% y/y, the statistics office Geostat announced.
Core inflation remained steady from September at 6.3% y/y, while core inflation without tobacco edged down slightly to 6.2% y/y (from 6.3% y/y in September). The food prices increased by 3.0% in October, contributing 0.96pp to the month’s 1.3% inflation. The prices were higher for vegetables (9.0% ), bread and cereals (5.5%), fish (4.2%), milk, cheese and eggs (3.6%), sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (1.2%). Along with this, prices decreased for fruit and grapes (-1.1%);
The 9.2% monthly rise in the average price of clothes contributed another 0.29pp to the 1.3% monthly inflation in October.
As regards annual inflation (12.8% y/y), the category of food goods made the biggest contribution as well: 5.73pp, caused by the 18.4% annual increase of their prices.
The category of transport items (including fuels) contributed another 2.40pp, as prices surged by 19.6%.
The prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 11.9% y/y, contributing 1.75pp to annual inflation.
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) on October 27 kept its key refinancing rate unchanged at 10% for a second time in a row, after raising it by 0.5% to its
19 GEORGIA Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com