The FINANCIAL — Following 15.9% YoY drop in the first nine months of 2019, FDI inflows doubled YoY to USD 347mln in Q4 2019, bringing the growth for the full-year 2019 close to 0%. FDI inflows to GDP ratio stood at an estimated 7.2% in 2019, unchanged from the previous year. A sharp jump in FDIs in Q4 2019 primarily reflects increased reinvested earnings (+7.2x YoY). Higher FDI related debt also contributed positively, while equity investments retreated slightly by 6.8% YoY over the same period.
FDI inflows from the EU was up by 278% YoY to USD 205mln in Q4 2019, accounting for around 60% of total FDI inflows of the same quarter. Contributions of other countries such as Turkey (+82.0mln USD YoY) and Israel (+14.0mln USD YoY) were also significant. As for the sectors, FDIs increased in financial, construction, energy, communication and mining sectors the most, while manufacturing sector has seen the largest drop.
Georgia’s merchandise export decreased marginally by 0.5% YoY and amounted to USD 263.6mln in February 2020, according to the initial estimates of Geostat. On the other hand, imports growth accelerated to 8.6% YoY. As a result, trade deficit worsened compared to February 2019. At the same time, over the last 12-month trade balance improved by 6.6% YoY, as exports increased by 11.0% YoY and imports were unchanged YoY.
As of February 2020, the share of non-resident holdings in government treasuries reached 15.5% in total government securities, up by 1.6 pp MoM. In absolute terms, non-residents currently hold treasuries with nominal value of GEL 623.0mln, GEL 85.9mln higher when compared to the end of January 2020. Interest rate differential between GEL and USD treasuries has increased as a result of lower USD rates. Nevertheless, elevated uncertainties related to the COVID-19 outbreak might negatively affect the appetite for the emerging market securities.
Capital Markets
On Friday’s trading session, TBC Bank Group PLC (TBCG LN) shares closed at GBP 11.06, down by 6.9% WoW. During the week, 936.0 thousand shares traded on the London Stock Exchange.
During the week 771.6 thousand of Bank of Georgia Group PLC (BGEO LN) shares traded, closing at GBP 12.30 (down by 21.4% WoW) on Friday’s trading session.
Georgia Healthcare Group PLC (GHG LN) shares went down by 20.8% WoW closing at GBP 0.86 on Friday. During the week 267.4 thousand GHG shares changed hands on the LSE.
On the London Stock Exchange 213.0 thousand Georgia Capital PLC (CGEO LN) shares were traded at GBP 5.63 per share (down by 18.8% WoW).
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