Georgia’s GDP Growth Rate Hits 4.3% on Year in April

TBILISI – The estimated real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate amounted to 4.3 per cent year-on-year in April.

The estimated real GDP average growth equalled 2.3 per cent for the first quarter of 2016 and 2.8 per cent for the first four months of the year, the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) said in its report.

Various international and local financial institutions also predict positive economic growth this year. The National Bank of Georgia, the World Bank, rating agency Moody’s and Bloomberg predict a 3 per cent growth for Georgia’s economy in 2016.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the country would reach 3.5 per cent growth in 2016 and 6 per cent in 2017.

Geostat produces rapid monthly estimations of real GDP growth using administrative data on VAT taxpayers’ turnover, fiscal and monetary statistics.

For sectors where preliminary monthly data does not exist (e.g. agriculture, no observed economy, etc.), the estimations are based on data for previous periods. As a result, actual quarterly real GDP growth may significantly differ from monthly estimates.

By Eka Karsaulidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller

Photo: Georgia About