Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on January 31 said the “positive trends” of the country’s economic growth from 2022 were expected to be maintained this year due to its multifaceted form over the past 12 months.
The ministry cited Davitashvili as pointing to the 11% growth in December 2022 and a 10.1% increase over the past year, and adding the estimated real growth had been observed in “several sectors” of the domestic economy.
“Among them, the recovery of the tourism sector was important. Exports were also quite important, the data of which were recorded at $5.6 billion – a historically high figure”, the minister said.
The “quite high” turnover of VAT-paying enterprises in December 2022 was also noted by the official, who pointed out the figure had increased by 18.1%.
“In addition, tourist activity increased in December 2022 – revenues from the tourism sector amounted to $555 million. An increase was also observed in remittances, which reached $535 million”, Davitashvili said.
The minister also noted the recently revised financial outlook for Georgia’s financial developments from “stable” to “positive” by the global financial ratings firm Fitch Ratings, and said “all this points to the stability of Georgia’s economy, despite external shocks”.
“Fitch kept Georgia’s sovereign rating at the BB level, but with a positive outlook. This suggests that if we maintain positive trends in 2023, our sovereign rating will improve at the next assessment”, Davitashvili said.
Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili also commented on the economic growth data of December 2022 and said the double-digit growth recorded over the past two years had been reflected in the employment rate. (Agenda/Business World Magazine)
