Page 31 - GEORptSep20

Citigroup interested in financing Georgia’s public debt
July amounted to GEL20.26bn ($6.59bn, 41% of GDP), while in June the figure was GEL18.77bn. Of the total public external debt at the end of July, the external debt of the government stood at GEL19.48bn and that of the central bank reached GEL781mn.
The largest creditors of the state of Georgia are Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank International Development Association (IDA), European Investment Bank (EIB) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
The debt owed to IDA is GEL2.85bn ($935mn), the ADB debt stands at GEL4.36bn ($1.43bn) and the EIB debt is GEL1.88bn ($620mn).
The gross external debt of Georgia amounted to $18.28bn as of first quarter of 2020, falling from $18.63bn in the fourth quarter of last year. ​It accounted for 105.4% of GDP in 2019. Gross external debt include both public sector (general government, public corporations and national bank) and private sector (banking and other sectors) external debt.
American investment bank Citigroup is interested in investing in financial markets development in Georgia and is willing to buy a volume of the securities issued by the country’s treasury, the bank’s vice chairman Jay Collins said at a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Citigroup would discuss with the Georgian government engagement in the process of budget expenditure digitisation using modern accounting and payment systems and share its experience in the field, according to a government release.
The bank also expressed its willingness to participate in refinancing the government's EUR-denominated securities, amounting to €500mn, in 2021.
“There was a great conversation with the Prime Minister of Georgia. We talked about economics and technologies, specifically the technologies used in the government sector for efficiency and effectiveness. We discussed investments and ways in which Georgia could attract more capital investment. We also talked about the financing strategy and the financing of processes in the global markets. Overall it was a brilliant meeting. It makes us happy about everything that is happening in Georgia,” said Citigroup’s Collins after meeting Gakharia.
7.0​ FX
Georgia - Foreign exchange rate
2016
2017
2018
2019
Jan’20
Mar’20
May’20
Jul’20
Currency (units per EUR) (average)
2.617
2.832
2.991
3.155
3.203
3.360
3.486
3.498
Currency (units per USD) (average)
2.367
2.509
2.534
2.819
2.883
3.041
3.198
3.063
Georgia’s central bank again props up lari with dollar sale intervention
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) offered $40mn for sale on June 10 in a foreign exchange auction but sold less than $30mn. ​The sale by the central bank was made at an average weighted exchange rate of Georgian lari (GEL) 3.0372 to the USD.
31​ GEORGIA Country Report ​September 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com