Loan portfolio accelerated, up 13.5% y/y in Jun-23
In Jun-23, the banking sector loan portfolio growth accelerated, up by 13.5% y/y (+2.7% m/m), excluding FX effect, after a 12.8% y/y growth in previous month. In unadjusted terms, loan portfolio increased by 8.4% y/y (+3.5% m/m) to GEL 47.3bn (US$ 18.1bn), after growing by 6.1% in May. By sector, corporate loans growth accelerated to 12.0% y/y in June (+10.3% y/y in May, exc. FX effect) and retail loans growth slightly slowed to 14.7% y/y (+15.0% y/y in May). Notably, the mortgages growth stood at 11.8% y/y in June, showing no change compared to the previous month’s growth rate. In Jun-23, loan dollarization stood at 45.0% (-3.34ppts y/y and +0.54ppts m/m) and NPLs at 1.7% (-0.17ppts y/y and -0.10ppts m/m).
Bank deposits increased by 29.2% y/y (+2.2% m/m, exc. FX effect) to GEL 46.8bn (US$ 17.9bn) in Jun-23, after a 31.2% y/y growth in May. In terms of currency breakdown, GEL deposits growth came in at 43.1% y/y (+44.8% y/y in previous month) and FX deposits growth (exc. FX effect) slowed further to 19.1% y/y (+21.3% in previous month). As a result, the level of deposit dollarization stood at 50.8% (-7.16ppts y/y and +0.28ppts m/m) in Jun-23.
International visitors at 1.5mn in 2Q23
In 2Q23, international visitors to Georgia increased by 58.7% y/y to 1.5mn persons. This growth was mainly driven by a 44.8% y/y increase in tourist arrivals (c.74% of total arrivals), followed by same-day arrivals (+119.0% y/y). Turkey was the top source country by international arrivals (25.0% of total), followed by Russia (21.9% of total) and Armenia (14.7% of total). Most visitors traveled to Georgia via land (68.9% of total), followed by air (30.4% of total). Overall, 2.5mn international visitors traveled to Georgia in 1H23, with tourist arrivals comprising 1.9mn individuals (90.8% of 1H19 level). Additionally, there were 0.6mn same-day arrivals, recovering at 54.3% of 1H19 level. This lower-than-expected recovery can be attributed to the continued restriction on border crossings from Azerbaijan.
NBG’s net purchases at US$120.5mn in Jun-23
In Jun-23, NBG purchased US$ 137.6mn through the BMatch platform, while also sold US$ 17.1mn at the FX auction. Overall, in 1H23, NBG’s net FX purchases reached US$ 1.06bn.
