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Tuesday, October 23, 2007, #202 (1469)
The government recently announced that the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) will end the year with net losses, prompting a strong response from the political opposition. Some cast blame on government policy, while others claim the government wants to do away with the Bank altogether. The allegations prompted the NBG to issue an official statement yesterday assuring the public that the country’s central bank is here to stay, the news agency Prime News reported. “We want to state that the abolishment of the NBG as one of the main institutions of the state is impossible, and reports that suggest this are unfounded,” the statement read. It also described the reports as a “deliberate campaign against the NBG,” and criticized the speculation for harming to the country’s image and jeopardizing the development of the banking sector in Georgia. The political opposition have criticized the government’s economic policy and suggested the executive is trying to exert control over the Bank, which is designed to be an independent body regulating state monetary policy. “When the government states that the economic sector in a country is developing, how is it possible [for the state bank] to not make a profit? This can only mean that the [monetary policy] is not working,” commented Zurab Tkemaladze, leader of the Industrialists parliamentary faction, according to the newspaper Rezonansi. New Rights opposition party MP Mamuka Katsitadze alleged that the government is trying to take control of the Bank. “The administration has had this idea for quite some time, for the NBG to be controlled by the executive,” Katsitadze said. |
National Bank dismisses claims it will be dismantled