World Bank: Georgia’s economic growth to drop to 2.5% amid Ukraine war
The latest data on real Gross Domestic Product shows the Georgian economy increased by 14.6 percent in February 2022 year-on-year and by 16.3 percent in January-February 2022, the National Statistics Office of Georgia revealed. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The Georgian economic growth is expected to slow to 2.5 percent in 2022 due to ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Economic Update said.
The report from the World Bank, which had forecasted a 5.5 percent growth of the Georgian economy in 2022 in its report Global Economic Prospects 2022, noted the baseline outlook envisioned growth recovering in the country from 2023 onward due to “easing monetary policy, recovery of tourism, and the restoration of economic links.”
The report of the Bank reads the war in Ukraine is likely to impact the Georgian economy through the following channels:
- Goods trade - both Russia and Ukraine are Georgia’s top trading partners
- Tourism - 21 percent of visitors in 2021 were citizens of these two countries
- Remittances - Russia and Ukraine account for about 20 percent of total money transfers to Georgia
- Increased commodity prices - disrupted commodity supplies from Russia and Ukraine due to war
The document also emphasises Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Turkey being supplied with over 75 percent of the wheat from Russia and Ukraine.
Russia is a major supplier of agricultural inputs, accounting for over 90 percent of cereal product imports in Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Georgia, as well as automotive products, stainless steel, and batteries,” the report notes.
Sebastian Molineus, the World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus, said Georgia was “well placed to manage the economic fallout of the war due to reasonable fiscal and external buffers and a credible macro-financial framework.”
What is needed now is to continue with prudent economic management, provide support to affected businesses and households while reinvigorating the structural reforms to improve productivity, improve human capital and address consequences of climate change,” Molineus added.
As for Armenia, its economy is forecast to grow 1.2 percent this year, and Azerbaijan's economy is projected to grow 2.7 percent in 2022.
The latest data on real Gross Domestic Product shows the Georgian economy increased by 14.6 percent in February 2022 year-on-year and by 16.3 percent in January-February 2022, the National Statistics Office of Georgia revealed.
Remittances to Georgia from abroad reached $183.4 million in February 2022, marking a 13.7 percent increase compared to the same month of last year, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) announced on Tuesday.
The Georgian economy is projected to grow 5.5% in 2022 and 5% in 2023, the January edition of the World Bank’s report Global Economic Prospects 2022 says.
The Georgian economic growth is expected to slow to 3.5 percent in 2022 due to ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, after the “promising double-digit growth” last year, a new report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reads.
The estimated real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Georgia increased by 14.6 percent in February 2022 year-on-year, while the average real GDP grew by 16.3 percent in January-February, the latest data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) shows.
Georgia can reduce its economic dependence on Russia, use the country's transit function more efficiently, and accelerate economic integration with Western countries amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Georgian-based non-governmental organisations and research centres said in a statement on Tuesday.
The World Bank is “ready to provide assistance” to Georgia during the “difficult” period involving challenges created by the financial impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sebastian Molineus, the Bank’s Regional Director for the South Caucasus, said on Wednesday.
Issues of cooperation in the water supply to irrigation systems in Georgia and the strengthening of the capacity of the country’s Land Management Agency were discussed at the meeting between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, and World Bank mission representatives on Friday, the Ministry has announced.
Georgian authorities and World Bank representatives on Monday discussed the Country Economic Memorandum drafted by the international institution, the Georgian Finance Ministry announced.
The estimated real Gross Domestic Product of Georgia grew by 2.6 percent in April 2022 year-on-year, while the average real GDP increased by 10.8 percent between January-April, the latest data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia show.
The Georgian economy is projected to grow 5.5 percent in 2022 and next year, followed by a 5 percent growth in 2024, the June edition of the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report has said.
The Georgian economy’s 2022 growth is projected to be at 10 percent in the final tallying of numbers for the past year, with a "much stronger” domestic economic activity observed compared with expectations in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the January report of the World Bank Global Economic Prospects has said.