Governor of central bank at parliament: ‘our policy aims at long-term stability of lari’

Governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) Koba Gvenetadze presented the annual report for 2018 at the Parliament of Georgia today and also answered questions of MPs regarding the recent fluctuation of the Georgian national currency lari.

Gvenetadze said that the year 2018 was important in terms of foreign sector activity and in particular in terms of export revenue, tourism revenue and increase in remittances.

Opposition MP’s raised the issue of the lari at the meeting and asked Gvenetadze why the NBG filled the reserves during the lari fluctuation. To note, last week the NBG filled currency reserves with $30 million.

Gvenetadze explained that it is important for the central bank to have sufficient reserves to avoid potential risks and to keep the lari stable.

Our main policy is the lari to be stable in long-term period. In the short-term period there might be fluctuations but in this case the NBG should find the balance in order to keep lari stable in long-term period. At the same time the country should have enough reserves in order to handle potential risks”, Gvenetadze said.

The Georgian national currency, the lari, has depreciated in value against the US dollar and the euro in recent weeks, with 1 USD costing 2.7344 GEL, while 1 EUR costs 3.4782GEL today.