Central bank Governor to Bloomberg: “We’re ready for a stronger dollar”

Bloomberg, a privately held financial software, data, and media company headquartered in the United States, has published an interview with head of National Bank of Georgia Koba Gvenetadze, in which he talks about how Georgia is prepared for the dollar strengthening.

In his interview with Bloomberg, Gvenetadze said a stronger dollar is a risk for the entire emerging world, but Georgia has the tools to ride out the turbulence from a stronger dollar with its free float being the first line of defense for the country.

A historical strengthening of the US dollar at present is a risk for all developing, emerging countries, but we are ready for a stronger dollar,” said Gvenetadze.

Dollarisation still remains, and it is the main challenge for the Georgian economy and for the financial system,” he said, adding that the US currency accounts for close to 70 percent of total deposits. That is "a problem because it weakens the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy. It also lowers the shock-absorbing capacity of the floating exchange rate.”

Read the full story here: www.bloomberg.com