The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has completed the first review of the three-year Stand-By Arrangement for Georgia, enabling access to about $40 million for the country, the IMF said on Thursday.
In its review, the IMF shared some forecasts for the country. The Fund said a "strong growth” of 10 percent was projected in the end-of-year 2022 figures of the domestic economy, and added while inflation "has been slowing", it remained elevated due to high commodity prices and strong domestic demand.
The institution added that both growth and inflation were expected to moderate in 2023.
Antoinette M. Sayeh, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, said the Georgian economy had “performed strongly” in 2022, with adverse spillovers from Russia’s war in Ukraine so far having less impact than expected.
The authorities have appropriately used recent positive outturns to rebuild fiscal and external buffers, and their performance under the programme has been satisfactory. In the context of high uncertainty and risks to the global outlook, continued prudent policies are important to further entrench macroeconomic stability", she said.
The IMF concluded by saying Georgia’s programme continued to “focus on reinforcing macroeconomic stability and maintaining reform momentum through prudent macroeconomic policies to reduce inflation and rebuild fiscal and external buffers, and structural reforms to foster more inclusive and job-rich growth”.