Acting National Bank Governor: savings in “strong, attractive” national currency “increasing”

Natia Turnava, the Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, on Saturday highlighted the national currency as “strong and attractive”, stressing “even foreign nationals are making their savings” in Georgian lari.

“We are building confidence [in national currency] and taking great care of it. With all the tools at our disposal, we will not allow the lari to become a target of political speculation”, Turnava noted.

In her interview with Imedi TV channel, the Acting Governor said there had been “plenty of excessive emotional purchases of the [US] dollar” [because of political developments], which was “not required for ordinary business operations of companies and market players”.

“Just like this year, even during the events of April and May [public protests against the controversial bill on the transparency of foreign influence], when we had to slightly intervene in the market and stabilise the lari, various false information was spread. There was once a claim that [allegedly] the share prices of our leading banks were falling and the banks were going to bankrupt, which absolutely did not match reality as we have one of the most stable banking systems, highly capitalised and of high-liquidity”, she said. 

Turnava also mentioned there had been talks about “various apocalyptic scenarios” that “created a sense of unpredictability” to which companies and small businesses “react”, adding “had [the Bank] not intervened in time, these negative expectations could have had a domino effect on the public [as well]”. 

She added this could lead to the “conversion of savings in lari into dollars and many other negative factors that would have harmed the trust in the national currency and hurt the economy”.

The Bank’s “partial preventive intervention” came when the first signs of “rush demand” for dollars were detected, manifested in companies, businesses and individuals taking precautions by “converting lari into foreign currency, ahead of [parliamentary] elections”, Turnava pointed out.

She said “more demand for Georgian lari” was expected and by purchasing dollars again, it would be possible “to replenish reserves again”, adding there would be “nothing to worry about” in this regard.