Exports increased by 28.8% y/y in December 2021
In Dec-21, exports increased by 28.8% y/y to US$ 419.5mn after growing by 42.9% y/y in previous month. Imports increased by 26.3% y/y to all-time high of US$ 1,038mn, after growing 41.0% y/y in previous month. Notably, exports and imports were also up compared to Dec-19 levels – exports up 5.9% and imports up 6.7%. As a result, the trade deficit widened by 24.6% y/y to US$ 618.5mn (up 7.2% vs. Dec-19), after a 39.6% y/y growth in previous month. Overall, in 2021, trade deficit was up 23.8% y/y (up 1.9% vs 2019) to US$ 5.8bn, as exports increased by 26.9% y/y (up 11.7% vs 2019), while imports were up by 25.1% y/y (up 5.8% vs 2019).
The top 5 exported commodities were copper (+25.0% y/y), ferro-alloys (+297.9% y/y), cars (-0.9% y/y), wine (-5.2% y/y) and fertilizers (+98.0% y/y) in Dec-21. A 17.7% of exports were directed to the EU (+9.2% y/y), 47.0% to the CIS (+20.2% y/y) and 35.3% to other countries (+58.1% y/y).
The top 5 imports were petroleum (+78.0% y/y), cars (-2.8% y/y), copper (+62.3% y/y), gases (+41.7% y/y) and pharmaceuticals (+2.4% y/y) in Dec-21.
Money transfers increased by 14.9% y/y in December 2021
Money transfers increased by 14.9% y/y to all-time high of US$ 229.5mn in Dec-21, according to NBG, after growing by 22.0% y/y in previous month. Notably, remittances were also up by 33.2% compared to Dec-19 level. From major remitting countries, money transfers increased strongly from Italy (+19.1% y/y, 16.5% of total), USA (+19.5% y/y, 11.6% of total), Israel (+13.8% y/y, 7.7% of total) and Kazakhstan (+368.4% y/y, 5.8% of total), while transfers declined from Greece (-8.6% y/y), Turkey (-17.9% y/y), Ukraine (-17.5% y/y) and Russia (-2.5% y/y). Overall, in 2021 remittances stood at US$ 2.3bn, up 24.6% y/y and up 35.6% vs. 2019.
Producer price index up 20.3% y/y in December 2021
Annual PPI for industrial goods increased by 20.3% in Dec-21 up from 17.2% in previous month, according to Geostat. Price changes in manufacturing (+24.9% y/y) and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning (+9.4% y/y) contributed the most to the overall index change in December.
Last week, JSC Silknet, a leading telecom operator in Georgia, priced US$ 300mn 8.375% Eurobond due 2027. Proceeds of the company’s new bond will be used to fully refinance the existing indebtedness, including repayment of its outstanding US$ 200mn 11% notes due April 2024, payment of premia/fees related with the tender offer, repayment of its unsecured local bonds, as well as general corporate purposes.
