The head of the National Bank of Georgia believes the Government’s prediction of a 5% growth in the Georgian economy is "quite realistic”.
National Bank of Georgia President Giorgi Kadagidze said this growth can be achieved but there were risks as a result of the current instability in Ukraine.
"We think achieving 5% growth this year is quite realistic. Of course there are some risks, which are mostly connected to the geopolitical situation in almost all our neighbouring countries and especially in Ukraine. Surely this might have some kind of impact on the Georgian economy. If we exclude external factors, in terms of purely economic prognosis, growing the economy by 5% is achievable,” Kadagidze said.
Asked how the developments in Ukraine would impact the remittances from that country, Kadagidze answered he did not have this information yet.
"Of course we will assess how the current developments will impact our economy, but we won’t have this information until the end of the end of the first quarter,” he noted.
Kadagidze mentioned he opposed the proposed bill by Georgian Dream member and MP David Onoprishvili, which would see the Financial Monitoring Service separated from the National Bank and subordinated to the Finance Ministry.
He noted the Bill could cause an undesirable results for the economy.
"I do not consider the decision to subordinate the Financial Monitoring Service to Ministry of Finance as a right decision and I am against it. I think that this [initiative] will not help the economy, and in particular the banking sector. However, I will refrain from making a public announcement just yet because I hope that I will manage to convince the authors of the bill and Parliament members that this decision will be harmful and will bring unintended consequences,” Kadagidze said.