Baku, Azerbaijan, August 9
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The trade balance in Georgia continued to improve in 2Q2019, TBC Bank of Georgia told Trend.
As the bank said, compared to 1Q2019, the exports of goods went up by 10.3 percent while the imports fell further by 6.1 percent. As a result, the trade deficit improved significantly by 15.7 percent over the same period, all in USD terms.
“Tourism inflows growth also accelerated to an estimated 15.5 percent in 2Q2019, compared to the 5 percent growth in 1Q2019. Remittance inflows went up by 9.3 percent - somewhat faster growth compared to previous quarter,” said the bank.
Further, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows decreased by 6.3 percent in the USD terms from $300 million in 1Q2019 to $281 million in 2Q2019 (in euro and lari, 1.9 percent and 0.9 percent increase, respectively).
The bank said, that just as in 2018, the finalization of South Caucasus Pipeline Extension Project and the change of ownership of non-resident companies to residents likely played a role in 1Q2019 as well.
TBC Bank, together with its subsidiaries, is the leading universal banking group in Georgia, with a share of 38.5 percent of loans and 41 percent of non-bank deposits as of June 30, 2019.