Page 36 - GEORptJun20

Citigroup interested in financing Georgia’s public debt
level of dollarisation of Georgia's 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
Mar’19
Jun’19
Sep’19
Dec’19
Mar’20
Currency (units per EUR) (average)
2.617
2.832
3.054
3.037
3.132
3.266
3.227
3.360
Currency (units per USD) (average)
2.367
2.509
2.675
2.684
2.777
2.965
2.905
3.041
Georgia again props up lari against depreciation
In particular, the operation by the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) was aimed at offsetting the repayment of a foreign currency bond issued by a Georgian financial institution and due this month. To balance out the impact of the one-off rise in demand on the exchange rate, the monetary authority opted to augment supply as well, NBG said.
The move was the fifth foreign exchange intervention performed by the NBG this year conducted with a view of forestalling the depreciation of the GEL. In those interventions, the central bank has sold $160mn on the market. On April 27, it sold $20mn, on March 25 $40mn, on March 19 $20mn and March 13 $40mn.
As of May 21, average exchange rates for the GEL included 3.1920 to the USD and 3.5058 GEL to the EUR.
"The central bank will carry out foreign exchange interventions more actively this year," NBG remarked.
The interventions were framed to reduce excess fluctuations on the foreign exchange market and avoid negative market expectations, it explained.
36​ GEORGIA Country Report ​June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com