Georgia’s central bank sells $20 mln to stop depreciation of lari

As of today 1 USD costs 2.9942 GEL while 1 EUR costs 3.3421 GEL. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Agenda.ge, 13 Mar 2020 - 18:22, Tbilisi,Georgia

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has sold $20 million at foreign exchange auction to control the national currency’s changing value against the US dollar.

The weighted average exchange rate was 2.9936 GEL for every 1 USD.

As a result of today’s trade lari depreciated against the US dollar by just 4.48 tetri, while against the euro it went down by 2.76 tetri.

As of today 1 USD costs 2.9942 GEL while 1 EUR costs 3.3421 GEL.

Yesterday the NBG released a statement in which it said that the recent depreciation of the lari exchange rate was linked to uncertainty caused by the coronavirus outbreak that has been transmitted to the financial markets through the channel of expectation.

Besides coronavirus the NBG says that another reason for lari depreciation is the decline in international oil prices.

The NBG said that the main task is now to maintain price stability in Georgia, to keep the low rate of the inflation.