Georgia’s central bank believes Lari will regain value

"The national currency is expected to recover in the mid-term and long-term period,” says the president of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) Koba Gvenetadze.

Gvenetadze had positive expectations that the Georgian Lari (GEL) will regain value against the US dollar and Euro but in the meantime the local currency is continuing to depreciate, with the official price of the dollar sitting at 2.4899 GEL.

From tomorrow, 1 USD will cost 2.4899 GEL. The previous rate was 2.4773 GEL. 

Similarly tomorrow 1 EUR will cost 2.7098 GEL, while the previous rate was 2.6995 GEL.

To control the changing value of the Lari against foreign currencies, NBG recently sold millions of dollars at the Foreign Exchange Auction.

Economists explained external shocks no longer impacted the national currency however the Lari still continued to fluctuate due to "temporary factors” such as "several large transactions” and the Parliamentary Election period. 

Typically during an election period the Lari stagnates as businesses temporarily slow their activities until the elections are over and results are announced. This lack of activity affected not only the national currency but the whole economy as well, said economic experts.

In September 2016, Georgia’s economy grew 1.5 percent year-on-year (y/y), showed the latest data by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

Historically, the Lari reached an all-time high of 2.50 against the greenback in February 2016 and a record low of 1.23 in December 1995.