Acting National Bank Governor says sanctions against Gov’t officials will “not affect” financial system

Natia Turnava, the Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, on Monday said potential sanctions against Georgian Government officials would “not affect” the country’s financial system and the national currency.

Turnava was commenting after the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week announced a new visa restriction policy for “those responsible for undermining democracy” in Georgia, including in connection with the law on transparency of foreign influence, adopted by the ruling Georgian Dream party, as well as a comprehensive review of the cooperation between the two countries.

The National Bank official responded by saying travel sanctions had “nothing to do with the financial system”, adding “even if certain types of individual financial sanctions are imposed, it will be individual cases”.

The Acting Governor also urged domestic political figures to “refrain from speculating on the subject of sanctions and not confuse them with the national currency’s exchange rate or the financial market, [misrepresenting] as if it will affect the latter”, in comments during her 2023 report to the Budget and Finance Committee of the Parliament.

Regarding the sanctions, I would like to say that the framework that our financial system, our banks have today, which consists of the National Bank and the regulations established by the law, is one of the strongest, strictest and most transparent in this region. Banks are fully instructed on what, when and how to do”, she noted.

She added the NBG was “constantly improving” its regulations, which she said had been brought “into full compliance with the domestic legislation”.

The official also said enforcement of the sanctions being in line with the national legislation was “very important” for ensuring there “are no gaps in enforcement, avoiding judicial review and so on”, adding “nothing threatens our financial system in this regard”.