Georgian central bank sells $48.70mln at foreign exchange auction

The National Bank of Georgia offered $60 million at the foreign exchange auction on Tuesday, of which $48.70 million was sold.

The Bank said the average weighted rate of the operation was 2.7829. In today's currency rates, $1 costs ₾2.7680, while €1 costs ₾3.0058.

The Bank also intervened with a $60 million injection at a foreign exchange auction about two weeks ago, in response to “recent volatility” in the currency market.

This decision was made to provide liquidity and address excess demand for currency, resulting from recent large, one-time transactions that exerted additional pressure on the Georgian national currency exchange rate”, the body said earlier this month.

The Bank noted recent fluctuations were “short-term” and not driven by fundamental macroeconomic factors, adding “key economic indicators” remained “strong”.

Natia Turnava, the Acting Governor of the NBG, on Monday also said the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals were “strong” and called fluctuations in the financial market “short-term”.

Georgia’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain robust, with a 7.5 percent increase in real gross domestic product in 2023, driven primarily by investments. In particular, investments have contributed 5.4 percentage points to economic growth”, she said.

Turnava added the “strong” economic growth was continuing in 2024, with an average growth of 7.8 percent in the first three months.