Annual inflation rate at 4.8% in August
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, September 4
The National Statistics Office (Geostat) released its annual inflation figures for August 2020. According to the document, the annual inflation rate in Georgia last month was 4.8%. At the same time, the most significant impact on the rise in prices was the rise in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices.
Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages: Prices in the group rose 9.2 %, which was reflected in annual inflation at 2.88% points. Prices increased for the following subgroups: fruit and grapes (18%), coffee, tea and cocoa (14.9 %), fish (13.5 %), oil and fat (11.9 %), milk, cheese and eggs (11.7 %), mineral and source Water, non-alcoholic beverages and natural juices (9%), bread and bakery products (9 %), meat and meat products (8.8 %), sugar, jam and other sweets (4.5 %);
Alcoholic beverages, tobacco: 8.9 %increase in prices was observed in the group. Accordingly, the group’s contribution to the annual index was 0.6 percentage points. Prices increased for both tobacco products (13.4 %) and alcoholic beverages (5.2 %);
Furniture, household items, home care: prices in the group increased by 9.7 % which was reflected in the overall index by 0.58 percentage points. Prices increased for subgroups: heating and cooking appliances, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, and other household appliances, including installation and repair (11.3 %), glassware, tableware, and household utensils (9.5%).
According to the report published by Geostat, in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year, the output of the business sector decreased by 18.3% and amounted to GEL9.2 billion.
The trend of decreasing output of the business sector was divided in the first quarter of 2020 when its volume decreased to GEL10.3 billion.
According to Geostat, the output of the business sector grew the largest volume, by 46.9% in the mining and quarrying sector. Production volume increased by 35.8% in the rural, forestry, and fish farming sectors. Also, growth was observed in the education sector, where output increased by 6.8% to 126.0 million. As for the decrease in output, the sectors with the provision of accommodation (decrease - 55.7%) and the sectors of administrative and support services (decrease - 54.4%) decreased the most.
According to the data of the second quarter of 2020, the structure of production output of the business sector by sectors is as follows: Manufacturing industry - GEL2.2 billion (share in total output - 23.5%); Wholesale and retail trade - GEL1.6 billion (17.7%); Construction - GEL1.5 billion (16.2%); Transport and warehousing - GEL0.5 billion (9.9%); Other sectors - GEL3.0 billion (share in total output - 32.8%)
The volume of total salaries issued by the private sector in Georgia has decreased. According to a report, private sector labor expenditures in the second quarter of 2020 amounted to GEL2.15 billion, which is GEL304 million, or 12.4% less than in 2019.
At the same time, the report on the activities of enterprises published by Geostat shows that 631.8 000 people were employed in the business sector in the second quarter, which is 8.1% less than in the same period last year. Among them, the number of employees (the number of employees who receive a contract salary) amounted to 599.5 thousand, which is 7.2% less than the previous year.
According to Geostat, the average monthly salary in the business sector in the second quarter of 2020 was GEL1,175, which is GEL65.5 less than the previous year
Geostat has released a report on the results of enterprises, which shows that in the second quarter of 2020, the turnover of the business sector decreased by 11.5% compared to the same period last year and amounted to GEL22.3 billion.
It should be noted that the turnover of the business sector in 2019 was characterized by an upward trend and reached a maximum of GEL31.4 billion in the fourth quarter. As for 2020, this figure decreased to GEL26.0 billion for the first quarter and to GEL22.3 billion in the second quarter.
Turnover increased the most, by 47.2% in the mining and quarrying sector. Also, the volume of turnover increased by 37.1% in the rural, forestry, and fisheries sectors. As for the downward trend, the administrative and support service sector decreased the most (decrease of 66.7%) and the accommodation sector (decrease of 65.7%).
According to Geostat, 76.8% of the total turnover of the business sector comes from the capital, Kvemo Kartli - 5.2%, Adjara - 4.6%, Imereti - 3.7%, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti - 3.3%, and the total share of all other regions - 6.4%.
According to the data of the second quarter of the current year, 58.8% of the total turnover of the business sector falls on large businesses, 17.8% on medium-sized enterprises, and 23.4% on small businesses.
It’s noteworthy that the government will subsidize part of the loan interest for hotels for a year - the Prime Minister of Georgia said before the government session.
Gakharia said that the tourism sector received first aid from the government, but it was not enough for the industry.
“Today we have to decide to extend the loan co-financing subsidy interest rate program for 6 to 12 months,” Gakharia said, explaining that it is the only way to stand by the sector because, despite the cautious economic indicators, there is an optimistic outlook.
PM noted that the companies that have not used this program before will be able to participate in the program and they will be given a period of 1 month - from September 10 to October 10 and all companies will have the opportunity to participate in the additional 6 months, even if they have not participated in this component. Small hotels have become beneficiaries of this program as well.
For reference, according to Produce in Georgia, as of August 30th, 907 hotels benefited from the co-financing of the state loan interest, for which GEL10.7 million was spent from the budget.
