Economic Press Monitor April 3 - 9, 2022	Days:  26 02 09 16 23

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “SHOTA BURJANADZE – RESTAURANT INDUSTRY IS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE, WHO WILL HAVE A DESIRE TO BE EMPLOYED IN THIS SECTOR”

April 6, 2022 - The restaurant industry is looking for people, who will have a desire to be employed in this sector, declares Shota Burjanadze, chairman of Georgian Restaurateurs Association. Otherwise, the sector will find itself in a situation, when it will be unable to provide services to customers, he notes.




FORBES GEORGIA: “ECONOMIC PARADIGM OF WAR”

April 5, 2022 - Giorgi Isakadze, editor-in-chief of the magazine, indicates that the Georgian government does not taking either publicly or at the regulatory level any concrete steps to limit economic relations with Russia.

What has been announced publicly is rather a message for Ukraine, with current leadership of which current Georgian authorities never had good or business relations, Isakadze points in the editorial.

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE IS ISSUED TO 652,096 PEOPLE, WHICH MAKES UP 17.5% OF COUNTRY’S POPULATION”

April 8, 2022 - Georgian Social Service Agency reported that beneficiaries of subsistence allowance in Georgia are 652,096 people, which makes up 17.5% of the country’s population. In the last 3 months, number of people receiving financial assistance from the state increased by 8,929 people.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIA IN THE UPDATED RATING OF IMPORT-DEPENDENCE”

April 5, 2022 - World Bank (WB) reported that in 2020, Georgia ranks 36^th among 164 countries in terms of dependence on import of goods and services. Statistics for 2021 have not been ranked yet.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““IT IS NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN A TIGHT MONETARY POLICY, EVEN MORE TIGHTENING IS POSSIBLE IN FUTURE””

April 5, 2022 - “If it were not for the events developed after February 24” (Russia-Ukraine war), March inflation in Georgia would have been certainly single-digit, declared Koba Gvenetadze, president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

Gvenetadze said this on the air of Formula TV company and noted: “Tightening of monetary policy, which we started after the economy suspended falling, would certainly have given results”.




REZONANSI: “ECONOMY HAD INCREASED AT A HIGH PACE UNTIL NOW, BUT BECAUSE OF THE WAR, IT WILL NOT ESCAPE A BIG SLOWDOWN”

April 4, 2022 - The average rate of Georgia’s GDP growth for January-February made up 16.3%. However, against the background of Russia-Ukraine war, National Bank of Georgia (NBG) forecasts that Georgia’s economic growth this year will be 3-4% instead of the previously forecasted 5%.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: “WHAT PLANS “TBILVINO” HAS AFTER REJECTING RUSSIAN MARKET”

April 8, 2022 - Plans of Georgian winemaking company Tbilvino, which suspended relations with Russia, are commented by Giorgi Margvelashvili (president of the company) and Zurab Margvelashvili (executive director). As they indicate in an interview with the magazine, Georgian wine industry faces one big challenge – excessive dependence on the single market (i.e. Russia).




FORBES GEORGIA: ““TERABANK” RECEIVED INVESTMENT OF 30M LARI FROM FMO”

April 6, 2022 - The Netherlands Development Bank (FMO) allocated 30 million lari to Georgian Terabank. The financing is intended for assistance to small and medium-sized businesses and partly – for support of young entrepreneurs.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “MEDEA JANIASHVILI – ENTRY OF “GULF HOTELS GROUP” IN GEORGIA WILL ESSENTIALLY CAUSED GROWTH IN NUMBER OF PEOPLE EMPLOYED IN TOURISM INDUSTRY”

April 4, 2022 - Bahraini Gulf Hotels Group starts operations on the Georgian market, Georgian National Tourism Administration reported.

In particular, Gulf Hotels Group signed a memorandum with Gino Holding, under which it will operate a 4-star hotel, located on the territory of aquapark by Tbilisi Sea.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “JAPANESE AMBASSADOR – JAPAN IS READY TO SUPPORT INCREASE OF QUALITY OF GEORGIAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION”

April 4, 2022 - Japanese ambassador to Georgia Imamura Akira indicated that Georgian agricultural production has a great potential on the international markets. Japan is ready to support the growth of the quality of Georgian agricultural production, he said.

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “PEOPLE STARTED PANIC PURCHASES OF MEDICINES, WHICH HAVE DECREASED IN PANIC, SO A SHORTAGE EMERGED”

April 6, 2022 - Zurab Azarashvili, Georgia’s Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection, attributes shortage of cheap medicines, imported to Georgia from Turkey, by panic purchases of the population.

When the population saw cheap medicines in pharmacies, they decided that it was a one-time action, and “instead of making a stock for a month, they made an annual stock”, the Minister said.

tourism

REZONANSI: “GOVERNMENT TALKS ABOUT REVIVAL OF TOURISM, BUSINESS – ABOUT TERRIBLE FALL”

April 8, 2022 - In March, Georgia was visited by 211,484 international travelers. Medea Janiashvili, acting head of Georgian National Tourism Administration, said that number of tourists in March has recovered to 48% of showing of 2019, which is “a very positive result”.