TBC Research publishes Weekly Bulletin. According to the bulletin, in November 2019 the YoY inflation reached 7.0%. Food and non-alcoholic beverages prices grew with 13.4% since October 2018 contributing to the annual inflation with 4.02pp, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco gained 15.4% YoY, adding another 1.03pp to the annual CPI.
Compared to November 2018, prices were down a bit for communication services (-0.1%) and for clothing and footwear (-0.2%). The number of international visits went up by 11.9% YoY in November 2019, while number of tourists increased by 10.3% YoY.
TBC Research notes in the publication, that 10.9% YoY decline in Russian visitor arrivals was offset by rapid expansion of visits (+38.5% YoY) from the EU countries, sharp increase of visits from Turkey (+25.3% YoY), as well as continued growth from Armenia (+18.1% YoY), Azerbaijan (+8.1% YoY) and Israel (+36.3% YoY).
At the same time, staggering growth continued from Central Asian countries (+119.1% YoY) contributing significantly to overall tourism growth.
Interest rates on money and government papers increased again in November 2019. In the last month, the yield on 5-year bond reached 9.46% (+0.23pp MoM), for 2-year bond it equaled 9.28% (+1.09pp MOM), and for 1-year bond the yield was 9.07% (+1.07pp MoM), while 1-day TIBR rates were up to 8.53% (+0.78pp MoM).
After the generally decreasing trend since the mid-2018, interest rates picked up fast in August 2019 and in November yields were up to three-year long record values in response to increased monetary policy rate.
The NBG sold 1-year maturity GEL 60mln Treasury Bills on December 3, 2019. Yield for the T-Bills equaled 9.17% (+0.09pp compared to previous auction) and they were allocated to five out of six participants of the auction.
