Page 40 - GEORptOct21

According to an estimate by Galt & Taggart, Georgia will receive $1.2bn from tourism this year—still a major plunge from the €3.3bn in 2019.
"Opening the land borders from June 1 will facilitate the gradual recovery of tourism. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, 70% of the total tourism flow was coming by land. We expect that in 2021, Georgia will receive $ 1.2 billion from tourism, which is 36% of 2019 tourism revenue,” the investment bank said.
Last year, Georgia lost tourism revenues of $2.7bn, as revenues from international tourism dropped to $542mn compared to $3.27bn in 2019.
It is also noteworthy that Galt & Taggart has raised its 2021 economic growth forecast for Georgia to 7%.
According to its previous forecast, the country’s economy was set to grow by 5% this year, but after Geostat published its report on 44.8% growth in April, Galt & Taggart raised its growth expectations.
7.1 FX auction
Georgia central bank sells $60mn
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) sold $60mn at a foreign exchange auction on September 30.
According to the NBG, the average weighted exchange rate amounted to Georgian lari (GEL) 3.1186 per USD. The official exchange rate for September 30 was GEL 3.1228, and on October 1, USD 1 would be worth GEL 3.1189
.
The auction was the ninth this year, with a total of $332.9mn sold in 2021. The previous, eighth auction was held on August 20, when the NBG sold $30mn. The lari then traded at 3.1323 per USD.
40 GEORGIA Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com