2023 economic growth may exceed planned 6% - National Bank Acting President

Natia Turnava, the Acting President of the National Bank of Georgia, on Wednesday said the domestic economic growth this year could exceed the planned six percent. 

In her press comments, the former Economy Minister named investments and foreign trade as “key drivers” of growth, adding the authorities had upgraded their forecast from five to six percent for this year. 

However, we expect the economic growth may exceed the planned figure”, Turnava said, adding “it is very positive for the domestic economy” and indicated the development of a “number of sectors”.

She noted the six percent and higher growth in the domestic economy would mean “more income” for citizens and maintenance of “high rate of employment”. 

However, Turnava called for caution by responsible agencies and financial institutions to prevent hikes in prices due to high consumer demands. 

We do this through our prudent monetary policy”, she claimed, before praising an “important role” of a “healthy and strong” financial sector for growth. 

Speaking about inflation rate, the official said the consumer basket included both locally produced and imported products, with the prices of imported goods having a “significant and practically determining role”. 

She claimed prices for imported goods had “seriously decreased” over the past several months, and added the Government expected “lower than forecast” rate of inflation until the end of this year.