NBG Head says Gel rate is equal to its maximum
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, September 28
The Head of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), Giorgi Kadagidze, stated that the Lari exchange rate is stable and it will continue to strengthen in the future.
Kadagidze made this statement at the XXXIV Meeting of the Central Bank Governors Club of Central Asia, Black Sea Region and Balkan Countries, which was held in Tbilisi on September 25-27 and was hosted by the NBG.
Kadagidze spoke about the interventions made by the NBG recently, when they opened the Foreign exchange reserves, in order to prompt Gel stabilization in Georgia.
He said that the carried-out interventions were necessary but noted that spending the reserves in the future would be inappropriate, because the macroeconomic parameters have been exhausted.
“The carried-out interventions is a message to the market participants that the Lari rate is equal to its maximum. This was the main goal of the interventions and any other exchange interventions carried out by us in the future will be part of this,” he said.
Along with the financial problems of Georgia, the governors of the banks also discussed the challenges facing the world financial sector. One of the main issues of the meeting was the dollarization, which is a problem in many countries, including Georgia.
At the conference, the NBG and the Central Bank of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which will contribute to the development of the financial system between the two countries.
“This is a memorandum after which we will begin to work in the foreign exchange swap between the Lari and the Yuan; from now, our business entities and entrepreneurs who have trade relations with China, will have access to interesting credit products,” Kadagidze said.
The meeting coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Georgian currency Gel. Regarding the jubilee, a special 20 Gel coin was minted by the NBG.
According to the National Bank, the coin weighs 28.28 grams and is made from silver. Overall, 1500 coins were minted in Poland.
The price of one coin is 95 Gel and they are available in the NBG and Kvareli Money Museum, as well as on the online store of the National Bank.
