Finance Minister: foreign exchange rates prove concerns about Georgian Lari “groundless”

The current foreign exchange rates show concerns about the Georgian lari depreciation are “groundless,” Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said on Thursday.

Khutsishvili asserted all sources of currency inflow in the country, including export and tourism, were “functional” and “growing.”

After yesterday’s intervention, today’s official exchange rate has appreciated by around eight tetri. The situation in foreign exchange markets is way more stable, and the appreciation tendency is maintained,” he noted.

Khutsishvili added the Georgian government did not expect a “sharp fluctuation” of currency rates in the near future.

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) offered 50 million USD at the foreign exchange auction on Wednesday, of which 39.5 million USD was sold.

In the first foreign exchange intervention this year, the NBG made the sale with an average weighted rate of 3.3947.