BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.19
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
After a significant slowdown in money inflows at the beginning of the year, remittances were on the path of recovery in Georgia, Trend reports via the ISET-PI, a think-tank based at the International School of Economics of Tbilisi State University.
In December, remittances increased by 15.9 percent yearly (a high growth rate was maintained in January 2021 – 19.2 yearly).
The main contributors to this increase (in December) were Italy (by 33.4 percent year-on-year, contribution 4.6 ppts), the US (by 35.1 percent year-on-year, 3.4 ppts), Ukraine (by 95.2 percent year-on-year, 2.7 ppts), Azerbaijan (by 160.1 percent year-on-year, 2.1 ppts), Germany (by 60.9 percent year-on-year, 1.8 ppts), and Greece (by 14.4 percent year-on-year, 1.6 ppts). Whereas money inflows decreased from the Kyrgyz Republic (by 70 percent year-on-year, -2 ppts), and Russia (by 7.1 percent year-on-year, -1.8 ppts).
The recovery of remittance flows made a positive contribution to the growth forecast.
Tourism arrivals and receipts declined sharply as a result of numerous travel bans, as well as precautionary behaviors on the part of potential tourists. In December, the number of international visitors decreased by 90.8 percent yearly (driven by Russia [-11.4 ppts], Azerbaijan [-22.2 ppts], Turkey [-11.4 ppts] and EU [-3.1 ppts]), while the decline in tourist numbers (visitors who spent 24 hours or more in Georgia) amounted to 85.8 percent.
Overall, dramatically declining numbers of visitors and tourists, along with a sharp decrease in touristic spending has made a significant negative contribution to the growth forecast.
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