Page 51 - GEORptDec20
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9.1.8 Agriculture sector news
Georgia subsidies wheat flour price
The Georgian government has decided to subsidise high-quality wheat flour to avoid an increase in bread prices, said Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili, Trend reports via Georgian media.
Davitashvili noted that the country had over 100,000 tonnes of wheat stocks for autumn, which allowed the price to remain steady, but he added that starting from September, the price of wheat increased in the Black Sea area, which could be reflected in the price of products made from wheat flour.
In Georgia, 80,000-100,000 tonnes of wheat are harvested every year, which covers less than 10% of overall consumption countrywide.
From January to July this year, Georgia bought wheat exclusively from Russia, purchasing a total of 223,000 tonnes.
The government’s subsidy programme will end on March 31.
The fixed price of 50-kg first-grade quality wheat flour is set at Georgian lari (GEL) 53 ($16).
The state subsidy will not exceed GEL10 per 50-kg of wheat flour.
The budget of the programme is GEL10mn ($3.02mn).
9.1.9 Consumer durables and electronics sector news
Georgia furniture, household electronics sales 90% up ahead of lockdown
Sales of electrical appliances, home appliances, furniture and other durable items sharply increased in Georgia by around 90% y/y in the week of November 18-24, ahead of the country’s coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown commencing November 28 lockdown, according to a report from TBC Capital.
"The growth rate of non-cash expenditures on furniture and other household goods has increased compared to the previous week, and the annual change in the period of November 18-24 was +92% y/y,” according to the report.
The increase in non-cash spending on electronics increased amounted to +88% y/y. Non-cash expenditures on construction materials increased by + 56% y/y.
According to TBC Capital, such sharp sales increase in the assessed goods had never been seen before.
The report indicated that the sales gains were even steeper across November 25-27.
Shopping centres were overcrowded and Tbilisi saw huge traffic jams that kept cars immobilised or at a crawl for many hours.
51 GEORGIA Country Report December 2020 www.intellinews.com
