Expected foreign currency inflow this summer will stabilise Georgian Lari

The ongoing depreciation of Georgia’s national currency, the Lari, against the United States (US) Dollar is continuing to raise concern in Georgia, but the country’s Economy Minister has voiced a way to stabilise the depreciating currency.

Georgia’s Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili told reporters yesterday that the Lari would stablilise soon as the country was expecting an inflow of foreign currency this summer.

"I would like to say that it is possible to stabilise the Lari, as in summer we expect a lot of foreign currency to flow into Georgia. Then the National Bank [of Georgia] will determine how the GEL gains value. In April, we will start to see the increase,” Kvirikashvili said.

The Lari has started to slightly depreciate again after briefly stabilising earlier this month. However the country is still affected by the current value of the currency, which experience about a 20 percent drop against the US dollar in the past six months.

Accordingly, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) set a new exchange rate, where the official price of 1 USD reached 2.2287 GEL.

The previous exchange rate was 2.2265 GEL. Correspondingly, the exchange rate has changed by 0.0022 GEL.

The Lari has also depreciated against the Euro, noted NBG.

From today, March 25, 1 EUR will cost 2.4478 GEL. The previous rate was 2.4182 GEL for every Euro. The official exchange rate depreciated by 0.0296 GEL.