With the exception of the Azerbaijani Manat, in August the currencies of the countries in the region saw devaluation against USD, but at scales which differed significantly.
In August 2018, compared to the same period the previous year, the currencies with the biggest drop against USD were the Turkish Lira (by 39.4%) and Russian Ruble (by 9.8%) but Armenian Dram stayed relatively stronger with a drop of 0.8%. However, the Azerbaijani Manat was marginally strengthened (by 0.3%). Devaluation of Lira and Ruble is due to sanctions by the USA.
According to the Budget Office data, in August the GEL exchange rate against USD dropped by 3.5% and the exchange rate against the EURO dropped by 2.3% compared to the previous month. Compared to the same period in 2017, in 2018 GEL depreciated against USD by 5.4% and against the EURO by 3.2%. On 16th August this year, 1 USD amounted to 2.6343 GEL, which is the highest indicator of the year. Throughout this year GEL was the strongest in March with 1 USD equivalent to 2.41GEL.
In August, among all the countries of the region with the exception of Turkey, the consumer price inflation was also characterized by similar trends. In particular, in August 2018 the annual inflation in Turkey was 17.9%. The inflation rate was relatively lower in Russia (3.1%) and Armenia (3.3%). With regards to Azerbaijan, based on July 2018 consumer price inflation grew by 1.6% in comparison to the same period last year.
