Page 24 - GEOGRptJun19

The balance of goods remained the major contributor to the trade gap in Q4. The deficit in the trading of goods decreased by 4.1% y/y to $1.1bn in the quarter.
In the full year, the net import of goods increased by 8.1% y/y to $4.11bn. A large part of that was financed by the export of travel services. The balance of travel services was the largest positive component in the services account. The export of such services increased by 14.1% annually and amounted to $650.8mn in value. In the full year, the export of travel services increased by 19% y/y to $3.22bn.
The gross external debt of Georgia amounted to $17.8bn as of 31th of December 2018. It accounted for 109.6% of GDP.
5.1.3 Capital flows
Remittances to Georgia up 10.2% y/y in February
The volume of money transfers from abroad to Georgia in February amounted to $125.5mn (GEL332.9mn), equivalent to 10.2% more than was recorded for the same month last year.
Strong wage remittances and rising revenues from tourism are helping to combat the country’s wide current account deficit. It stood at 8% of GDP last year and may stay at that level in 2019, according to IMF projections.
The biggest remittance sums came from Russia ($31.62mn), Italy ($17.44mn) and Greece ($14.16mn), official data showed.
The vast majority (92%) of all money transfers from abroad derived from 15 countries.
24 GEORGIA Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com