FDI in Georgia stood at US$ 496.6mn in 1Q23
FDI in Georgia stood at US$ 496.6mn (or 7.9% of GDP) down by 13.7% y/y, according to Geostat’s preliminary figures. This reduction is explained by last year’s high base effect. Notably, equity component increased by 17.0% y/y to US$ 300.2mn, accounting for 60.5% of total FDI, marking the highest level observed since 4Q17. Meanwhile, reinvestments were down 39.5% y/y to US$ 189.6mn (38.2% of total FDI) in 1Q23.
The manufacturing sector was the largest FDI recipient at US$ 226.3mn (up 5.7x y/y, 45.6% of total, related to the transaction of JSC Rustavi Azot), followed by trade at US$ 90.7mn (up 4.0x y/y, 18.3% of total), transportation and storage at US$ 43.3mn (up 98.2% y/y, 8.7% of total), ICT at US$ 42.3mn (up 142.9% y/y, 8.5% of total) and electricity supply at US$ 39.2mn (up 9.9% y/y, 7.9% of total). The Netherlands topped the list of investors with US$ 239.6mn (48.2% of total FDI), followed by Japan (US$ 63.2mn, 12.7% of total), USA (US$ 54.7mn, 11.0% of total) and Türkiye (US$ 47.0mn, 9.5% of total).
International reserves at US$ 5.0bn in May-23
Gross international reserves increased by 29.8% y/y to US$ 5.0bn in May-23, according to NBG. Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the reserves were down by 2.5% (-US$ 128.1mn). Changes in reserves were attributed to the government and banking sector FX operations.
Tourism revenues estimated at US$ 304mn in May-23
According to our estimates, tourism revenues increased by 17.6% y/y, reaching US$ 304.0mn in May-23. Overall, tourism revenues reached US$ 1,350mn (+60.5% y/y) in 5M23, based on our estimate.
