Balance of Payments statistic is compiled according to the methodology provided by the IMF's "Balance of Payments Manual, Fifth edition".

The current account deficit amounted to 316.7million USD (735.6 million GEL or 8.4 percent of the same period GDP) in the third quarter of 2016.

The negative balance of goods is the major contributor to the current account deficit. Trade of goods deficit increased by 56.6 percent annually (decreased by 7.0 percent excluding the imports of granted hepatitis C elimination medicines) and amounted to 1.8 billion USD (4.3 billion GEL). Exports decreased by 1.8 percent while imports increased by 33.2 percent annually.  Excluding the granted hepatitis C elimination medicines from imports, the imports of goods annual reduction was 4.7 percent.

The positive balance of services (mostly due to exports of travel services) partially offsets the negative balance of goods. Exports of services increased by 7.8 percent and imports - by 8.2 percent. The balance of travel services is the largest positive component of the services account. Export of travel services increased by 10.1 percent annually and amounted to 817.0 million USD (1.9 billion GEL).

The positive balance of the current transfers partially offsets current account deficit. Credit of current transfers increased 2.6 times annually totaling 1.2 billion USD (2.8 billion GEL). The growth was driven by the government sector transfers that increased 4.1 times annually, mainly due to the international aid received for hepatitis C elimination program (911.6 million USD).

Net foreign direct investments, significant item for financing the current account deficit, amounted to 421.0 million USD (977.6 million GEL)¹ accounting for 11.2 percent of the third quarter GDP. The largest investment inflows were directed to transport, construction and industry sectors.

 

 

The presented statistical information is published on the website of the National Bank of Georgia under the heading "Statistics":https://www.nbg.gov.ge/index.php?m=306&lng=eng#external

 

¹FDI data slightly differs from Geostat's preliminary statistics. FDI data usually rises after the annual survey, due to corrections made to the quarterly profit-loss data. According to the IMF's methodology and the recommendations of the 2012 IMF ROSC mission, BOP quarterly statistic is adjusted in order to correct this problem. After the completion of the annual survey, the final FDI data is released by Geostat and the BOP FDI record is adjusted accordingly.