WASHINGTON: Georgia is balancing its trade ties with the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and other countries and reducing its negative trade balance. Georgia’s trade deficit equalled $4.8 billion in the first eight months of 2016, which made up a 65 percent share in trade turnover, showed preliminary data by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
Trade deficit is an economic measure of a negative balance of trade in which a country’s imports exceeds its exports. Between January and August the value of Georgia’s export dropped 10 percent to $1.3 billion, while the value of imports grew 23 percent to $6.1 billion, said Geostat.
Figures showed the volume of Georgia’s imports and exports were 16 percent higher in the first eight months of 2016 year-on-year (y/y). In the reporting period external merchandise trade (excluding non-organised trade) of Georgia amounted to $7.4 billion.
