Georgian economic growth slows to 1.7 pct in Jan-Feb yr/yr

   

In February alone the growth slowed to 2.6 percent from 4.9 percent in February 2015.

   

The former Soviet republic, through which pipelines carry Caspian oil and gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, has been hit by a decline in exports and remittances and a plunge in the Russian rouble .
   

The government expects 3 percent economic growth in 2016. Growth was 2.8 percent in 2015, down from 4.6 percent in 2014.