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COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT A sharp rise in capital imports related to the construction of the Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline has resulted in a worsening of [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Georgian real GDP growth accelerated to 8.6% in 2003, its fastest rate since 1997. As in 1996-97, when growth was fuelled by a [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The IMF is likely to approve a new poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) with the Georgian government in 2004. Concluding an agreement [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The construction of two major pipelines - the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline Project (SCP) - will be [...]

COUNTRY VIEW FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT OVERVIEW: The political scene will be dominated by the three leaders who mobilised the public to bring down the previous government in November [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT A surge in capital imports related to the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline has led to a marked deterioration in [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Georgian real GDP growth was a strong 8.3% in the first three quarters of 2003, compared with 4.1% in the year-earlier period. Official [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Construction work currently under way on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline has already had a strong, positive effect on Georgia's economic growth. The [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Georgia is facing a demographic crisis In May 2003 the State Department of Statistics released the results of the first census since independence, [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The population is well educated High social security outlays and perennial problems in collecting tax revenue have resulted in a fall in government [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Land area 69,700 sq km Population 4.4m (May 2003) Main towns Population in '000 (1994 government estimates) Tbilisi (capital) 1,253 Sukhumi 600 Kutaisi [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Economic structure has changed Georgia received massive industrial investment in the Soviet era, transforming a subsistence farming economy into one based on inefficient [...]

COUNTRY VIEW FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT OVERVIEW: Georgia's opposition has ousted president Eduard Shevardnadze and seems set to win parliamentary and presidential elections in the new year. We forecast [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT President Eduard Shevardnadze is most likely to continue to use his control over the media and the security services to clamp down on [...]

COUNTRY VIEW FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT OVERVIEW: The president, Eduard Shevardnadze, is likely to remain in power, since he exercises considerable control both through formal political structures and through [...]

COUNTRY VIEW FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT OVERVIEW: The president, Eduard Shevardnadze, is likely to remain in power through 2004, since he exercises considerable control both through formal political structures [...]

COUNTRY VIEW FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT OVERVIEW: The US deployment in Georgia that began in May 2002 may enable the president, Eduard Shevardnadze, to retain his position in Georgia [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Georgia's failure to introduce substantive structural and administrative reforms has contributed to sluggish economic growth. Although small-scale privatisation is almost complete, privatisation of [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Georgia's real GDP growth is projected to accelerate over the forecast period, primarily owing to a rapid rise in investment related to the [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Real GDP growth is projected to accelerate over the forecast period, primarily owing to a rapid rise in investment related to the construction [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The IMF sent a memorandum to the Georgian government in early November, stating that a failure to meet its commitments under the poverty [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Foreign reserves (US$ m) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Foreign exchange 199.66 117.78 123.96 106.13 156.33 SDRs 0.13 5.20 8.42 3.27 3.96 Reserve [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Exchange rates (annual averages) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Lari:US$1 1.30 1.39 2.02 1.98 2.07 Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics. SOURCE: Country [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT External debt, World Bank series (US$ m unless otherwise indicated) 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Public medium- & long-term 1,106 1,190 1,301 1,307 [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Balance of payments (US$ m unless otherwise indicated) 2000 2001 Goods: exports 459.0 496.1 Goods: imports -970.5 -1,045.6 Trade balance -511.5 -549.4 Services: [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Banking statistics (Lari m; year-end) 2000 2001 Assets 636.2 795.0 Reserves 76.7 82.5 Foreign assets 106.9 174.1 Claims on general government 5.7 17.0 [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Gross domestic product at current prices 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 GDP (Lari m) 4,639 5,041 5,665 5,955 6,510 % real change, year [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Inflation (av; %) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Consumer price inflation 7.1 3.6 19.2 4.1 4.6 Source: TACIS, Georgian Economic Trends. SOURCE: Country [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Gross domestic product by sector (% of total) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Agriculture 29.0 26.7 24.7 20.0 19.2 Industry 13.3 12.3 13.0 [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Transport indicators ('000 tonnes) 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Freight transport 14,146 19,700 24,120 25,911 30,091 Rail 4,784 7,200 8,495 9,492 11,500 Road [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Money supply and credit (Lari m unless otherwise indicated; end-period) 2000 2001 Domestic credit 1,301.6 1,331.2 Money (M1) 368.4 394.2 Broad money (M3) [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Gross domestic product by expenditure (% of total; at current prices) 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Private consumption 88.7 89.0 80.3 89.8 82.0 [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Average monthly wages 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Nominal wages (Lari) 43.3 55.4 67.5 78.5 94.7 Nominal wages (US$) 33.3 39.6 33.8 39.3 [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT 2002 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Central government finance (Lari m) Revenue & grants 200.1 181.9 n/a Expenditure & net lending 229.4 [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT 1999 2000 2001 GDP at market prices (Lari m) 5,665(a) 5,955(a) 6,510(b) GDP (US$ bn) 2.8(a) 3.0(a) 3.1(b) Real GDP growth (%) 3.0 [...]

Tourism With its mountains, rivers, coastal resorts and history, Georgia has enormous-and hugely unfulfilled-potential as a tourist resort. In the 1980s it had as many as 2m visitors a year. [...]

Georgia has large manganese deposits Georgia has one of the richest manganese deposits in the world, located in Chiatura and Sachkhere, about 130 km west of Tbilisi. Total reserves are [...]

Reforms have strengthened the banking sector Reform of the banking sector began in mid-1995, with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG, the central bank) assuming a supervisory role. The NBG [...]

A lack of investment hampers the manufacturing sector During the Soviet era Georgia developed a disparate but inefficient manufacturing sector producing or assembling aircraft components, trucks, tractors, steel, machine tools, [...]

Main economic indicators, 2001 Real GDP growth (%) 4.5 Consumer price inflation (av, %) 4.6 Current-account balance (US$ m) -211.4 External debt (US$ m) (a) 1.6 Average exchange rate (Lari:US$1) [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Tourism With its mountains, rivers, coastal resorts and history, Georgia has enormous-and hugely unfulfilled-potential as a tourist resort. In the 1980s it had [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT A lack of investment hampers the manufacturing sector During the Soviet era Georgia developed a disparate but inefficient manufacturing sector producing or assembling [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Reforms have strengthened the banking sector Reform of the banking sector began in mid-1995, with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG, the central [...]

COUNTRY BACKGROUND FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Main economic indicators, 2001 Real GDP growth (%) 4.5 Consumer price inflation (av, %) 4.6 Current-account balance (US$ m) -211.4 External debt (US$ [...]

COUNTRY BRIEFING FROM BBC MONITORING Text of report by Georgian TV on 18 October [Presenter] The Georgian minister of state has demanded that members of the government ensure an increase [...]