Page 28 - GEORptJul18

Kaladze pledged assistance from his office to help the authors improve the project, which he deemed vital to Tbilisi. The budget for the provision of the master plan stands at 2.8mn Georgian lari.
6.2 Debt
Georgia - Gross external debt
1Q16 2Q16 3Q16 4Q16 1Q17 2Q17 3Q17 4Q17
Gross external debt ($ mn)
14,756.04 15,206.00 15,536.52 15,679.52 15,796.77 16,416.51 16,712.72 17,203.5
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Gross external debt (% GDP)
36.8 32.46 32.53 33.92 35.38 41.28 41.6 /
source: CEIC, World Bank
The gross external debt of Georgia increased to $17,203.5mn in the fourth quarter of 2017 from $16,712.72mn in the third quarter. External debt averaged $11,420.4mn from 2007-2017, according to the National Bank of Georgia. 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
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018 Q1
Currency (units per EUR) (average)
2.347
2.123
2.209
2.346
2.520
2.617
2.832
3.054
Currency (units per USD) (average)
1.686
1.651
1.663
1.766
2.270
2.367
2.509
2.485
In recent years, as the Georgian lari began to depreciate, the central bank stepped in frequently to alter the exchange rate in order to boost the local currency. In early 2016, the rate was as high as 8%, though the regulator gradually eased it to 6.5% over the following year, responding to the appreciation of the lari and a decline in inflation.
Since early 2018, the central bank decided to increase the rate again in three consecutive interventions due to inflation that was above its target of 5%. The currency appears to have stabilised as consumer prices are moderating in 2018.
28 GEORGIA Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com