National Bank head cites external shocks, less tourists as reason behind lari devaluation

The price of one USD is more than 2.93 GEL at private banks and currency exchange booths. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Agenda.ge, 30 Jul 2019 - 15:17, Tbilisi,Georgia

Head of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) Koba Gvenetadze says that external factors and fewer tourists have made an impact on the exchange rate of the national currency, with one US dollar costing 2.93 GEL as of today.

 We have received less tourists than we expected this year, which, of course, had an influence on the rate of the national currency,” Gvenetadze said.

 Gvenetadze says that NBG will get involved and will use “its levers” against the increased rate of exchange of the lari if this is necessary. 

Russia banned direct flights to Georgia earlier this month and urged its citizens to leave Georgia due to the rallies in central Tbilisi.

The Georgian National Tourism agency says that in 2018 1.2 million Russian tourists visited Georgia.

The agency reported that more than 500,000 Russian tourists entered Georgia in the first five months of 2019, before the ban came into effect.

Experts say that Georgia will suffer about 300 million USD due to the ban on flights.