External trade turnover decreased by 16.3%
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, July 15
The preliminary data was published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) this week. According to the statistics, Georgia’s external trade turnover amounted to $5.072 billion in January-June 2020, which is a decrease of 16.3% compared to the same period of last year.
The value of exports decreased by 15.6% reaching $1.50 billion, while imports decreased 16.5% and amounted to $3.56 billion.
The negative trade balance equaled $2.06 billion and its share in trade turnover constituted 40.7%.
In June, the volume of goods imported by Georgia decreased by 17.2% and amounted to $ 576.3 million. This is $ 120.1 million less than in 2019. As for exports, it was $ 266.9 million, which was $ 40.3 million (13.1%) less than in the previous year.
Geostat will publish detailed data on foreign trade on July 20th.
During the pandemic, the Tbilisi real estate market shrank sharply. According to a report published by Colliers, the total value of apartments sold in Tbilisi in April-June amounted to $141 million, which is 66% or $ 272 million less than in 2019.
According to individual months, the decline was most pronounced in April, when the country imposed the strictest restrictions in terms of the state of emergency. In April, a total of 203 apartments were sold in Tbilisi with a total volume of $10 million.
In May, apartment sales recovered relatively well, and the public registry recorded the sale of 841 apartments with a total value of $38 million, although this figure was reduced by 74% year-on-year.
In June, 2 117 apartments were traded in Tbilisi, which was almost 2.5 times more than in the previous month. On an annual basis, this figure was reduced by 37%.
According to Colliers, the market recovery trend will continue in July, which will be partly due to the state subsidy program launched in July.
It has been more than a week since the banks started issuing subsidized mortgages. According to the budget, the financing of this program will be GEL70 million and the co-financing of the loans will last for 5 years.
The state subsidizes 4% of the mortgage interest rate; The state terminates the subsidy if the refinancing rate falls below 5% (resumes or exceeds); Subsidy is issued for loans not exceeding GEL200,000; The subsidy applies only to those who will take a mortgage loan in the period 01/06/2020 - 01/01/2021 to buy a newly built apartment.
The state issues a loan guarantee in the amount of 20% of the loan. The guarantee applies to loans where the co-payment is less than 10%. The budget for this program is 14 million.
