The FINANCIAL — Last week the Galt & Taggart Index (GTI) fell by 9.35% to 182.2 in GEL terms on a trading volume of GEL 32,688.
Two blue chip stocks traded on the Georgian Stock Exchange: Bank of Georgia (GEB, BUY, down 10.45%) and Liberty Consumer (formerly Galt & Taggart Capital, GTC, BUY, down 60%). Blue chip stocks accounted for 100% of the total weekly trading volume.
Last week Bank of Georgia’s global depositary receipts (GDRs) fell by 7.8% on the London Stock Exchange (BGEO LI) to US$ 3.55. A total of 26,844 GDRs traded on the LSE last week.
Foreign trade
In 2008, Georgia’s foreign trade turnover reached US$ 7.56bn, up 17.2% y/y. The country’s negative trade balance widened by 14.51% y/y to US$ 4.56bn.
In 2008, Georgia’s foreign trade turnover with CIS countries reached US$ 2.54bn, up 9.9% y/y, and accounted for 33.7% of the total foreign trade volume. About 32% (31.9% in 2007) of the negative trading balance was attributed to trading with CIS countries.
In the reporting period, foreign trade with the European Union (EU) grew to US$ 2.5bn, up 10.7% y/y. Exports increased 24.8% y/y to US$ 335.2mn and imports rose 8.2% to US$ 1.66bn. Foreign trade with the EU accounted for 26.5% of Georgia’s total foreign trade turnover.
In 2008, Turkey remained the country’s major trading partner with the trading volume amounting to US$ 1.2bn, up 33.7% y/y. Trading volume with Turkey accounted for 15.9% (rose by 1.9% y/y) of the total foreign trade turnover.
Azerbaijan was Georgia’s second largest trading partner after Turkey, with the turnover reaching US$ 813.2mn (up 56.4% y/y), or 10.8% (a 2.7% increase y/y) of the total foreign trade turnover.
In 2008, Ukraine remained the country’s third major trading partner with the trading volume amounting to US$ 791.8mn, up 18.3% y/y. Trading volume with Turkey accounted for 10.5% (rose by 0.1% y/y) of the total foreign trade turnover.
Georgia’s other key trading partners include: Germany (US$ 467.4mn, 6.2%), Russia (US$ 454.5mn, 6%), the USA (US$ 343.6mn, 4.5%), China (US$ 307.1mn, 4.1%), the UAE (US$ 283.9mn, 3.8%), Bulgaria (US$ 231.1mn, 3.1%) and Italy (US$ 198.7mn, 2.6%).
In 2008, Georgian exports rose to US$ 1.5bn, up 21.5% y/y, and imports rose to US$ 6.06bn, up 16.2% y/y.
Ferroalloys, ferrous scrap metal, as well as copper ore and concentrates, remained the largest export categories. Georgia exported US$ 267.2mn (rose by US$ 107.6mn y/y) worth of ferroalloys and US$ 128.5mn (grew by US$ 31.6mn y/y) of ferrous scrap, which accounted for 17.8% and 8.6% of all exports, respectively. In the same period, copper ore and concentrates exports rose to US$ 118.2mn (up US$ 39mn y/y), or 7.9% of total exports.
Traditionally oil and oil products accounted for the largest share (12.6% or US$ 762.5mn, a US$ 206.2mn increase y/y) of imports. Motor vehicles were the second largest import category – US$ 463.3mn (up US$ 93.6mn y/y) or 7.6% of total imports.
FX Market
Last week the GEL/US$ exchange rate rose by 0.3%. The weekly turnover on the Tbilisi Interbank Currency Exchange (TICEX) was US$ 40.2mn, US$ 25mn more than for the previous week. The National Bank of Georgia’s (NBG) net sales were US$ 40mn.
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