The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has assessed the current state of the foreign exchange market in its recent report.
According to the National Bank, in February, the average exchange rate of the Georgian Lari (GEL) strengthened against the US dollar, rising from 2.8439 to 2.8185—an increase of 0.9%—and against the euro, increasing from 2.9447 to 2.9354, or by 0.3%. By the end of the month, the official exchange rates were 2.8172 against the US dollar and 2.9510 against the euro. During February, the GEL-USD exchange rate reached a maximum of 2.8563 and a minimum of 2.7813.
“In February, the maximum and minimum values of the exchange rate exhibited a balanced deviation from the average. Notably, the Turkish Lira has depreciated against the dollar, while the Russian Ruble has strengthened appreciably, alongside the GEL, Euro, and Armenian Dram. The Azerbaijani Manat showed negligible change. The real effective exchange rate of the GEL has depreciated by 8.4% annually and by 1.0% monthly,” the report states.
In terms of the nominal effective exchange rate index, the depreciation is recorded at 1.7% annually and 0.6% monthly. This depreciation of the effective exchange rate positively impacts the country’s competitiveness.
Among its trading partners, February saw annual inflation rates in Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the USA, and Armenia exceed those in Georgia, while inflation in the Eurozone remained lower. The report indicates a downward trend in inflation in several key partner countries; however, overall price levels continue to remain high.
