Page 24 - GEORptDec20

IMF forecasts Georgia’s current account gap will double to 10% of GDP this year
decreased by 96.7% y/y to $28.8mn.
Net foreign direct investment amounted to $148.9mn in Q2, accounting for 4.2% of GDP, the NBG also announced.
According to the​ ​World Economic Outlook forecasting​ ​of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), released on April 14, the drop in tourism activity, which is marked out as a main driver behind the anticipated economic slowdown, as well as smaller wage remittances from Georgians abroad will result in the current account deficit widening to 10.1% of GDP this year from 5.1% in 2019. The gap would then narrow to 6.8% of GDP in 2021 under the Fund’s scenario. The country has only just consolidated a downward trend towards smaller external deficits, including via a moderate weakening of the Georgian lari. Thinner currency inflows are likely to re-ignite pressures on the local currency.
Georgia’s current account deficit shrunk by 25% y/y to $897mn in 2019. That accounted for 5.1% of the year’s GDP, the smallest value in absolute terms since 2005, according to data published by the country’s central bank under BPM5 methodology.
24​ GEORGIA Country Report ​December 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com