Annual inflation at 4.6% in Feb-26
In February 2026, Georgia’s annual inflation slowed to 4.6% from 4.8% posted in previous month. The moderation was mainly driven by a slowdown in domestic inflation to 6.5% y/y in Feb-26 from 7.0% y/y posted a month earlier, along with a decline in imported goods prices by -0.7% y/y (vs. -0.1% y/y in Jan-26). Meanwhile, mixed-goods inflation accelerated to 6.2% y/y (vs. 5.5% y/y in Jan-26). Notably, core inflation – excluding food, energy, and tobacco – rose to 2.4% y/y in Feb-26 from 2.1% in previous month.
By categories, annual inflation in Feb-26 was largely driven by price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+9.5% y/y, +3.20ppts), healthcare (+5.9% y/y, +0.50ppts), alcoholic beverages & tobacco (+4.3% y/y, +0.28ppts) and hotels and restaurants (+7.2% y/y, +0.23ppts) categories. Meanwhile, deflation was recorded in communication (-4.6% y/y, -0.15ppts), furnishings, household equipment & maintenance (-2.7% y/y, -0.15ppts) and recreation & culture (-2.1% y/y, -0.08ppts).
International reserves at a record high US$ 6.7bn in Feb-26
Gross international reserves increased by 57.3% y/y to a record high US$ 6.7bn in Feb-26, according to NBG. On a monthly basis, the reserves rose by 5.7% (+US$ 358.9mn). Changes in reserves were attributed to the changes in the value of monetary gold (+US$ 55.2mn m/m) along with the government and/or banking sector FX operations, and likely the NBG’s FX trading via BMatch platform (information will be available on 25 March). Notably, as of Feb-26, monetary gold accounted for 18.0% of total international reserves.
