Page 21 - GEORptSep19

Georgia reports 11.5% hike in exports in 1H19
acting as automatic stabilisers on net imports of goods with the Georgian lari exchange rate adding more pressure toward more sustainable development.
Exports rose by 17.4% y/y to $323mn in July, while imports, although contracting by 4.3% y/y, stood at more than twice that, namely $762mn.
The level of exports in the rolling 12-month period rose by 13.7% y/y to $3.59bn while imports contracted by 0.5% y/y to $8.88bn. Consequently, the trade deficit contracted by 8.2% y/y but remained at $5.98bn.
Georgia reported a sharp increase in exports of 11.5% y/y to just under $1.8bn in the first half of 2019, according to express external merchandise trade data released by the statistics office Geostat on July 15.
Georgia’s imports continued to far outstrip exports at $4.2bn during the six month period, despite falling by 4.9% y/y.
This left Georgia with a trade deficit of $2.4bn in January-June 2019, equal to 40.5% of the country’s total trade turnover of $6.0bn.
The data released on July 15 only covered the headline figures, with no breakdown by type of goods or trade partners.
5.1.2 Current account dynamics
Georgia’s current account deficit halves in Q1 on strong exports
Georgia’s current account (CA) deficit amounted to $227mn in the first quarter of 2019, 48% down y/y according to the central bank reporting under BPM5. The country's CA deficit narrowed in 2018 compared to 2017, but remains at a still high level of 7.7% of GDP ($1.24bn) and its dynamics depends to a large extent on the revenues generated by tourism.
Exports of goods increased by 12.5% y/y to $1.1bn, while imports of goods contracted by 3.3% y/y to $1.9bn. Notably, the balance of trade with goods improved despite the nominal and real strengthening of the local currency against a trade of currencies reflecting the country’s foreign trade, in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2018.
The balance of goods remains the major contributor to the current account.
21 GEORGIA Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com