20
February
2017
We started forecasting the annual growth rate at the start of 2014 (see our January 2014 and February 2014 publications for a note on methodology). Based on this month’s data, we expect annual growth in 2017 to be 2.5% in the worst-case or “no growth” scenario, and 3.4% in the best-case or “average long-term growth” scenario.
10
February
2017
According to the preliminary statistics released by GeoStat, Georgia’s real GDP growth was 2.2% year over year (YoY) in 2016. This result fell behind the World Bank’s, IMF’s, and EBRD’s last growth projections of 3.4%. The NBG’s 3.5% growth projection from November also overestimated Georgia’s economic growth in 2016.
20
January
2017
Geostat has published its rapid estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2016. The estimated growth stands at 1.2%, which is 1.7% lower than the value forecasted in the last update of our model. Given the latest data, Georgian real GDP growth in 2016 is estimated as having been 2.2% (0.5 percentage points lower than projected by our model).
21
November
2016
Geostat has updated its GDP growth estimate for the third quarter of 2016. The Q3 growth rate stands at 2.2%, which was 1.3% below the ISET PI’s forecasted value. As a result of the update, the growth forecast for Q4 of 2016 was revised downward to 2.9% from the 4.1% projected in October.
10
November
2016
According to Geostat’s rapid estimates, real GDP grew by 1.5% in September 2016, while the growth rate for Q3 stood at 2.2% year over year (YoY). The estimated third-quarter growth was thus 1.3 percentage points lower than ISET-PI’s GDP forecast for the quarter. One should note that the data from September are likely to include a very high services component (revenues from the tourism sector). Therefore, the quarterly growth number is likely to be revised upward in the future as more data comes in.