Georgia : winds of optimism (English)

The signing of the association agreement (AA) with the European Union in June 2014 and the coming into effect of the deep and comprehensive free trade area in September are landmark achievements for Georgia. The AA is focused on improvements in the areas... See More + The signing of the association agreement (AA) with the European Union in June 2014 and the coming into effect of the deep and comprehensive free trade area in September are landmark achievements for Georgia. The AA is focused on improvements in the areas of democracy and the rule of law, human rights, good governance, and economic development. With greater policy certainty, there was an uptick in business and consumer confidence leading to an output expansion of 6.0 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2014, up from 3.2 percent in 2013 as a whole. Buoyant revenue performance limited the fiscal deficit to 1.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) during the first 6 months of the year. The unemployment rate improved marginally in 2013 to 14.6 percent as a result of declining labor force participation. The overall labor force participation rate stood at 66.2 percent in 2013 and nearly 17,000 people in the working age population decided to opt out of the labor force during the year.  See Less -