Georgia's current account deficit amounted to 7.4% of GDP

The deficit of foreign trade in goods and the income account have a negative contribution to the formation of the current account.

TBILISI, September 15 - Sputnik. The current account deficit of Georgia's balance of payments for the second quarter of 2024 amounted to 593.7 million dollars, according to the materials of the National Bank of Georgia.

The deficit of foreign trade in goods and income account have a negative contribution to the formation of the current account, while trade in services and current transfers have a positive impact.

According to the National Bank, the current account deficit grew by 1.6% in the second quarter of the year, while the ratio of the indicator to GDP improved from 7.6% to 7.4%.

The most deficit component of the current account is trade in goods, the negative balance of which amounted to $1.8 billion in the second quarter, 21.7% more than in the same period of 2023. Meanwhile, merchandise exports fell 5.9% year-on-year, while imports rose 7.4%.

Exports of tourism services reached $1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2024, up 8.1% from the corresponding period of 2023.

The income balance is negative at $543.9 million. Positive net labor compensation is down 14.1% and negative net investment income is down 22.4%.

The traditionally positive component of the current account is current transfers, whose credit rose 5.7% year-over-year to $868.3 million in the second quarter of 2024. Private sector net transfers rose 7.2% to $824 million over the period.

Net foreign direct investment totaled $486.5 million in the second quarter, or 6% of quarterly GDP.

Reprinted from https://sputnik-georgia.ru