ACTING NBG PRESIDENT: NBG MONITORS COMPLIANCE WITH SANCTIONS

“Compliance with sanctions is very important, and the financial sector is taking it very seriously”, declared Archil Mestvirishvili, acting president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG). He noted that NBG “monitors compliance with sanctions”. More...

ICC HEAD IN GEORGIA: “GEORGIAN DREAM” HAS LOST LEGITIMACY

Fady Asly, head of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Georgia, estimates that the ruling Georgian Dream has lost legitimacy, as its leaders are trying to “lead us to Russia instead of Europe”.

Asly stated this in an open letter published today, which is addressed to Bidzina Ivanishvili (billionaire founder of the Georgian Dream), which he signs as a businessman, and not as the head of ICC Georgia. More...

GEORGIA’S AVERAGE GDP GROWTH RATE FOR THE FIRST 4 MONTHS MADE UP 7.3%

Sakstat released estimation, according to which Georgia’s real GDP growth in April, in comparison with the same month of 2021, made up 7.5%. Average rate for the 1^st quarter made up 7.2%, while for January-April – 7.3%. More...

NBG FINANCIAL STABILITY COMMITTEE LEFT COUNTERCYCLICAL BUFFER AT 1%

National Bank of Georgia (NBG) reported that its Financial Stability Committee decided today to keep the countercyclical buffer unchanged at a neutral level of 1%.

NBG noted that for the past 2 years, ratio of loans to Georgia’s GDP has decreased, reflecting the effect of high economic growth and strengthening of lari exchange rate. More...

NBG INCREASED LIQUIDITY REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-RESIDENTS’ DEPOSITS IN FOREIGN CURRENCY

National Bank of Georgia (NBG) reported that its Financial Stability Committee decided today to increase the liquidity requirements for non-residents’ deposits, placed in foreign currency. The changes will enter in force on September 1. More...

NBG: RENT GROWTH IN GEORGIA EXCEEDS THE LONG-TERM TREND BY ABOUT 30%

In Georgia, growth of selling price for real estate is rather proportional to construction costs and inflation of industrial production, National Bank of Georgia (NBG) said. Whereas in case of rent, the growth is of larger scale and exceeds its long-term trend by about 30%, NBG pointed. More...

NBG VICE PRESIDENT: LINKING LOAN INTEREST TO TIBR WILL BE FINANCIALLY MORE JUSTIFIED

Papuna Lezhava, vice-president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), points that the Tbilisi interbank rate of interest (TIBR) represents a more market-based and “financially more justified interest”.

Lezhava confirms that possibility of linking loan interest to TIBR is being considered, but he does not name the terms at this stage. More...

AMENDMENTS, RELATED TO GEORGIAN PARTNERSHIP FUND, APPROVED

At the plenary session today, the Georgian Parliament approved draft amendments to the law “On Joint Stock Company – Partnership Fund” (77 votes “pro”).

In particular, the name of the Partnership Fund is changed to Georgian Development Fund. More...

Rezonansi: “GREAT CHANGES IN ENERGY SECTOR – THE COUNTRY STARTS IMPLEMENTATION OF SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS”

Georgian authorities plan to announce an auction for construction of an energy-efficient thermal power plant of combined cycle with a capacity of 350-430 MW in Gardabani municipality (Kvemo Kartli region).

Power engineer Gia Arabidze welcomes plans for construction of the new station. More...

Bankebi da Finansebi: “TORNIKE RIZHVADZE – WE EXPECT OVER 4M VISITORS IN AJARA THIS YEAR”

In a few days, the seaside tourist season will be officially opened in Ajara. This year, we expect over 4 million visitors, and Batumi will be central to this issue, said chairman of Ajara government Tornike Rizhvadze. More...

Batumelebi: “GOVERNMENT FILED TO SPEND OVER 20M LARI – BUDGET EXECUTION IN Q1”

In the 1^st quarter, the Ajara government was supposed to receive revenue of 100 million lari, while actual implementation exceeded the plan by 19 million lari.

At that, the plan for budget payments amounted to 77.94 million lari, while actual financing made up 57.58 million lari, i.e. the difference exceeds 20 million lari. More...

GEORGIA – LABOR MARKET OVERVIEW

CHALLENGES

Despite an all-time low, unemployment remains high in Georgia – the unemployment rate amounted to 17.3% in 2022¹.

Efficiency of the labor market has decreased – according to the Beveridge curve, labor market efficiency has decreased in the post-pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic one. More...