Georgia sells $20 million USD at Foreign Exchange Auction

Today the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) sold $20 million USD during its Foreign Exchange Auction.

The average weighted bid rate was 2.4012, said the NBG in a statement this afternoon.

Georgia’s national currency, the Lari, has continued to fluctuate in recent months, but had slightly gain value against the US dollar and Euro recently.

From tomorrow, December 25, 1 USD will cost 2.4023 GEL. The previous exchange rate was 1 USD at 2.4107 GEL.

NBG said the Lari had also strengthened against the Euro.

From tomorrow the exchange rate will see 1 EUR cost 2.6336 GEL. The previous exchange rate was 1 EUR at 2.6342 GEL.

The Lari first started dropping in value against the greenback in November 2014. At this time the exchange rate saw 1 USD valued at 1.75 GEL.

The Lari’s depreciation reached its highest level in 1999 when 1 USD equalled 2.4510 GEL.

The Government of Georgia, the NBG president and high officials from international financial institutions said the external shock effect on the Lari exchange rate was now over.

Officials said economic shocks and expectations had already influenced the national currency and the monetary incomes that impact the Lari had already been reflected in imports dynamics. "We do not expect any additional fluctuations in the GEL exchange rate,” they collectively said.

Meanwhile, yesterday NBG president Giorgi Kadagidze posted the foreign exchange reserves spending data of different countries in his Facebook page, which said between 2009 and 2015 Georgia had spent $300 million USD and the Lari’s depreciation reached 44.1 percent during this period.