Page 33 - GEORptDec19
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    Zoidze added that consumers were obtaining raw tobacco, which is seven to eight times cheaper than imported cigarettes, but was not subject to quality checks. Smuggling and use of raw tobacco would significantly affect the government’s budget, the lawmaker noted.
Cigarette prices increased by an average of 50 tetri ($0.19/€0.16) in Georgia following amendments to the tax code that came into play on January 1.
 6.2 ​Debt
 Georgia - Gross external debt
1Q17 2Q17 3Q17 4Q17 1Q18 2Q18 3Q18 4Q18 1Q19 2Q19
 Gross external debt ($ mn)
16,042 16,660 16,881 17,250 17,759 17,416 17,225 17,818 17,828 18,184
 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
 Gross external debt (% GDP)
81.2 84.6 83.2 84.7 109.4 110.7 114.8 109.7
 source: CEIC, World Bank
       The gross external debt of Georgia amounted to $18.2bn as of second quarter of 2019, rising from 17.8bn in the previous quarter. External debt averaged $11,420.4mn from 2007-2017, ​according to the National Bank of Georgia. It accounted for 109.6% of GDP. Gross external debt include both public sector (general government, public corporations and national bank) and private sector (banking and other sectors) external debt.
Georgia’s government debt is expected to inflate to 3.5% of GDP in 2017-2019, ​in part due to the depreciation of the Georgian lari and the high level of dollarisation of Georgia's external debt. ​External government debt is expected to peak at 43% of GDP in 2018.
The country's high current account deficit, which reached 13% of GDP at end-2016, is one of the important sources of external debt.
 7.0​ FX
    Georgia - Foreign exchange rate
 2013
  2014
   2015
  2016
   2017
  2018
   Mar’19
 Jun’19
   Sep’19
   Currency (units per EUR) (average)
    2.209
2.346
    2.520
2.617
    2.832
3.054
 3.037
    3.132
 3.266
 Currency (units per USD) (average)
  1.663
  1.766
   2.270
  2.367
   2.509
  2.675
   2.684
  2.777
   2.965
    Georgia’s central bank defends currency with forex interventions
  The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) on November 26 moved against excessive local currency weakening by selling $20mn of foreign exchange reserves.
The Georgian lari (GEL) hit a new low versus the US dollar last week. Both the NBG and the government have constantly invoked strong fundamentals in
 33​ GEORGIA Country Report​ December 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com
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