Currency exchange units turnover reaches 6.4 bln GEL in 2021
A total of 469 currency exchange units operated in the country in 2021, a majority of which were concentrated in Georgia's capital Tbilisi and totalled 46.3 percent, followed by the Black Sea region of Adjara with 25.8 percent and Kvemo Kartli region with 8.1 percent. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The total turnover of currency exchange units totalled 6.4 billion GEL ($2.046bln/€1.860bln) in Georgia last year, of which 51.8 percent was in dollars and 14.7 percent in euros, the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) announced on Tuesday.
The Office’s latest update on trends also said 33.5 percent of the turnover had been left to other currencies, and added the figures did not include commercial banks, microfinance institutions and local units.
A total of 469 currency exchange units operated in the country in 2021, a majority of which were concentrated in Georgia's capital Tbilisi and totalled 46.3 percent, followed by the Black Sea region of Adjara with 25.8 percent and Kvemo Kartli region with 8.1 percent.
Image: Geostat
In the reported period, 1,664,000 people were served by the currency exchange units in Georgia, of which 13,000 were legal entities and 1,651,000 individuals, with Georgian nationals amounting to 85.9 percent of their clients and foreign citizens 14.1 percent.
Overall, $543 million and €135.3 million was purchased by currency exchange units last year, while they sold $520.5 million and €132 million in the same time period.
Georgia’s annual inflation will come down to “single digits” by the end of 2022, Papuna Lezhava, the Vice President of the National Bank of Georgia, said on Monday.
Commercial banks in Georgia loaned 43.25 billion GEL ($13bln/€12bln) and received deposits of 37.63 billion GEL ($11bln/€10bln) in February 2022, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) announced on Friday.
Remittances to Georgia from abroad reached $183.4 million in February 2022, marking a 13.7 percent increase compared to the same month of last year, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) announced on Tuesday.
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, the bank announced yesterday. In the first foreign exchange intervention this year, the NBG made the sale with an average weighted rate of 3.3947.
Georgia’s gross external debt has reached $21.8 billion as of December 31, 2021, accounting for 116.8 percent of its 2021 annual gross domestic product (GDP), the National bank of Georgia (NBG) announced.