Budget and Finance Committee supported Koba Gvenetadze’s candidacy
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, February 19
The Budget and Finance Committee supported Koba Gvenetadze as a candidate member for the National Bank Board. Gvenetadze was nominated by the President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili.
Seven members of the committee took part in the vote and six of them supported Gvenetadze’s candidacy.
During his speech before the Budget and Finance Committee, Koba Gvenetadze presented his views in regards to the main directions of the National bank of Georgia (NBG).
“The trust towards the National Bank should be kept and strengthened,” stated Gvenetadze in his speech.
He believes that to maintain a low rate of inflation in the country, it is necessary to ensure the independency of the NBG.
According to Gvenetadze, Georgia is a small country and external factors easily affect its economy.
“In order to make this process less painful for the population, larization process should be enhanced; loans issued in Gel should be promoted and financial markets in our own currency should be developed,” said Gvenetadze.
It should be noted that Gvenetadze also has the support of the Sector and Economic Policy Committee. The candidate is also going to meet with parliamentary minority members.
The final decision rests with Parliament. The MPs will discuss the recommendations of the Budget and Finance and Economic Policy committees and make their final decision.
Majority members say that Gvenetadze is against the separation of the Supervisory Agency from the National Bank, which may become the basis of diversity and the disapproval of Gvenetadze’s candidacy.
Manana Kobakhidze, a member of the majority confirmed that the issue of the Supervisory Agency might cause different opinions. However, she claims that this aspect alone will not influence the decision of the MPs.
“Only one factor will not be decisive. All the other factors should be considered before making a final decision,” stated Kobakhidze.
According to the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party , the fact that Gvenetadze is against the emission of the Supervisory Agency from the NBG is to his credit.
“Gvenetadze has modern visions towards the National Bank system,” says Tsiklauri.
It should be noted that President Margvelashvili nominated Gvenetadze from three candidates who were selected and assessed by experts and NGOs.
The non-governmental sector selected the candidates for the membership of the National Bank Board due to the following pre-agreed criteria: professional education, qualification, and political impartiality. The selection procedure included consultations with experts and an electronic scoring process.
