EBRD lowered its forecast for economic growth in Georgia

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) by two percentage points lowered its forecast for economic growth in Georgia in 2013, and said that "prospects have worsened" in comparison with forecast of Georgia made by the bank in January.
According to the Georgian TV, the Bank predicts growth of three percent of Georgia's economy in 2013 instead of five percent, announced in January of this year.

According to official forecasts of the government of Georgia, this year will rise six percent, however, as President of the National Bank of Georgia recently stated, the data can be reviewed and reduced.

In its latest report on the future of the regional economy, which covers 34 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and North Africa, the EBRD for the region, where the bank operates, the overall GDP growth forecast lowered to 2.2 percent instead of the as 3.1 percent forecasted in January. The reason for this the bank called the slowdown of the economy in Russia, as well as in several countries with large economies, such as Poland and Turkey.

According to the preliminary data of Statistics Service of Georgia, economic growth in the first quarter was 1.7 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year by 6.7 percent.