In Georgia we focus on:
Supporting private sector competitiveness through innovation, enhanced value added and convergence with Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) standards and obligations. We will continue supporting SMEs and the local private sector via the well-developed local banking sector with a focus on high-potential areas such as agriculture, hospitality and innovation where we plan to deploy support in workforce training skills focused on regional inclusion, youth and gender.
Deepening financial intermediation and developing local currency and capital markets to enable the private sector to have better access to finance.
Expanding markets through inter-regional connectivity, expanding Georgia’s potential as a regional link through further modernisation of the country’s infrastructure. The EBRD will explore the financing investments under private-public partnership frameworks that will enable Georgia to take advantage of its geographic position between the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe.
Renewable energy, resource efficiency and climate change adaptation to improve competitiveness and resilience of the economy. We will continue supporting the creation of renewable generation capacity in hydropower, wind and possibly solar, as well as building transmission lines to connect with regional markets. A special Energy Efficiency Action Plan will be developed to tackle excessive energy consumption.
In 2015 Georgia increased its contribution to the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership Fund. Georgia is both a donor and a beneficiary of the fund.
The EBRD’s latest Georgia strategy was adopted on 14 December 2016
- The EBRD’s latest Georgia strategy
- Strategy in Georgian
- Report on the invitation to the public to comment on the Georgia strategy
Current EBRD forecast for Georgia’s Real GDP Growth in 2018 4.5%
Current EBRD forecast for Georgia’s Real GDP Growth in 2019 4.5%
Georgia’s growth momentum has been generally vigorous since 2017 but is showing early signs of a slowdown in recent months. The economy grew by 5.0 per cent in 2017, rising to an estimated 5.4 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2018. Preliminary estimates by the statistical authorities suggest that real GDP growth slowed to 4.8 per cent year-on-year in first eight months of 2018, including 2.0 per cent year-on-year growth in August. Growth in the first half of 2018 was driven by trade, real estate activities, manufacturing and financial intermediation. By contrast, construction output nearly stagnated in this period. The hospitality sector continued to perform well. The number of international visitor trips to Georgia increased by 12.9 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2018. In the first half of 2018, international tourism receipts increased by 28.9 per cent year-on-year, export of goods by 28.4 per cent year-on-year and money transfers by 18.3 per cent, all in US dollar terms. FDI inflows to Georgia also remained sizable despite a 9.8 per cent year-on-year drop in this period. The Georgian lari was broadly stable against the US dollar in the first ten months of 2018, despite some volatility in this time stretch. We forecast Georgia’s real GDP to grow by 4.5 per cent in both 2018 and 2019, but the growth outlook depends to a large extent on economic trends in Georgia’s main trading partners.
