Georgian lari at historic low:
1 USD costs 3.0118 GEL

As of today 1 USD costs 3.0118 GEL while 1 EUR costs 3.3684 GEL. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Agenda.ge, 16 Mar 2020 - 18:59, Tbilisi,Georgia

Against the backdrop of the outbreak of the coronavirus and the global oil crisis, the Georgian national currency, the lari, has hit a record low against the US dollar after falling to 3.0118.

As of today 1 USD costs 3.0118 GEL while 1 EUR costs 3.3684 GEL.

To control the lari’s changing value against the US dollar the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) sold $20 million at foreign exchange auction on March 13.

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

The NBG also 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 the coronavirus, the NBG says that another reason for the depreciation of the lari is the decline in international oil prices.

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