Georgia: The way to prosperity

A determined reformist government has put Georgia on the road to recovery. Now foreign investors are starting to take an interest, attracted by the country's strategic position on the oil route to the Caspian Sea. But the recovery remains fragile, as Suzanne Miller found.

Miracle in the Caucasus

It seems almost impossible. Three years ago Georgia was deep in crisis, with runaway inflation and a war raging with Abkazia. Most foreign investors wouldn’t touch the country with a bargepole. But today, somehow, Georgia has GDP growth and inflation figures which would be envied by many industrial countries. And, with its first treasury bill auction, the government has just taken the first step toward creating western-style capital markets.

“Nobody believed that this small country could have made progress so fast,” reflects Hunter Monroe, the local IMF representative.