Georgian external debt at $18.6 bln

As of December 2019, the external debt of Georgia amounted to $18.6 billion, which was 105.1 per cent of the gross domestic product of the year, says the National Bank of Georgia.

During the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019, the gross external debt of Georgia increased by $729 million. Out of that, a $529.5 million increase was due to transactions, while exchange rate changes also led to an increase by $141.6 million.

Price and other changes lead to an increase by $33.9 million and $23.9 million, respectively.

In total, foreign direct investments (FDI) in Georgia amounted to $1.26 billion in 2019, up 0.2 per cent from the same period of the previous year.

• UK, Turkey, Ireland - Georgia’s top investing countries in 2019

As for Georgia’s international investment position (IIP), the IIP amounted to negative $23.8 billion by December 31, 2019. Net IIP deteriorated by $1 billion compared to the previous quarter.

An IIP is a financial statement that explains the value and composition of a country’s external financial assets and liabilities. A positive IIP value indicates a nation is a creditor nation, while a negative value indicates it is a debtor nation, as is the case of Georgia.

The data from the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) about the country’s balance of payments indicate how much money entered and left the country: the NBG said Georgia’s current account deficit of balance of payment reached its historical minimum in 2019, amounting to $897.3 million.

Current account shows a country's imports and exports of goods and services, its net earnings on cross-border investments, and its net transfer payments over a defined period of time.

The current account may be positive or negative. The positive means the country is a net exporter, while the negative means it is a net importer of goods and services as in the case of Georgia.