Page 38 - GEORptFeb22

improved to 3.7% in the first 10 months this year, according to bne IntelliNews calculations, compared to -0.2% in the same period of 2020 and 2.1% in 2019.
As regards the net interest income reported by the Georgian banks in January-October, it increased by 37% y/y and by 33% compared to the same period of 2019 to GEL2.98bn ($962mn). The annualised net interest to assets ratio thus improved to 6.2% this year, compared to 5.3% in the same period last year. However, the ratio dropped from 6.5% in the first 10 months of 2019.
*annualised return on assets ratios are calculated based on 9M average assets for each year, as the assets at the end of October will be released on November 25.
8.1.2 Loans
Georgian loan portfolio grows by 18.1% y/y in December
GEL37.16bn deposited, GEL43.03bn loaned in Georgian banks in December
Georgia’s loan portfolio growth accelerated to 18.1% y/y in December 2021, while Tbilisi’s residential PPI was up 1.2% in Q42021, reports brokers Galt & Taggart.
In December 2021, Georgia’s banking sector loan portfolio growth accelerated to 18.1% y/y (+3.7% m/m), excluding FX effects, after a 16.4% y/y growth in the previous month. In unadjusted terms, the loan portfolio was up 12.6% y/y (+3.9% m/m) to GEL43.0bn ($13.9bn). By sector, both corporate and retail loans growth (excluding FX effects) accelerated to 17.7% y/y (from 16.2% y/y in the previous month) and to 18.4% y/y (from 16.7% y/y in the previous month), respectively, in December. Notably, the mortgage loan portfolio increased by 12.0% y/y in December after growing by 11.3% y/y in the previous month. In December 2021, loan dollarisation stood at 50.6% (-4.70ppts y/y and +0.26ppts m/m) and NPLs stood at 1.9% (-0.39ppts y/y and -0.32ppts m/m).
Commercial banks in Georgia lent GEL43.03bn and received deposits of GEL37.16bn in December 2021, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) said. The volume of loans has increased by GEL1.63bn (3.93%) in December compared to the same period last year. Deposits also increased by GEL1.42bn (3.96%) month-on-month.
In December 2021, the sum of term deposits increased by GEL191.41mn, while demand deposits increased by GEL1.22bn.
Loans taken out in Georgian lari increased by GEL685.88mn m/m, while loans denominated in foreign currencies grew by GEL941.36mn m/m.
38 GEORGIA Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com