Page 36 - GEORptMay21

depreciation of the Georgian lari, saying that one of the leading factors in the current depreciation was lost revenue from tourism, an industry devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
"The depreciation of the GEL is mainly due to tourism, Georgia lost up to $3bn in revenue from this sector in 2020 alone," said Lezhava.
The vice president also commented on an initiative of the chairman of the Committee on Sectoral Economics and Economic Policy. It envisages the creation of a GEL exchange rate management plan by the central bank.
"We welcome talking with various stakeholders about economic issues, such as targeting a specific GEL exchange rate. This has never been our goal, nor do we plan to determine it as a goal in the future. It is good to reduce the GEL exchange rate fluctuations,” stated Lezhava.
Alexander Dzneladze, president of the Georgian Banking Association, speaking to Business Media about the fluctuations in the lari exchange rate and its causes expressed hopes for a stabilisation later in the summer.
He predicted that from the second half of the year all business directions knocked off course by the pandemic would be gradually restored.
"It is expected that business sectors in the country will begin to recover in the second half of the year, the restaurants and tourism-related sectors will be less affected, but it is hoped that appropriate steps will be taken in this direction," he said.
8.0 Financial & capital markets
Georgia - Commercial banks lead 2020* 2019 2018 2017 2016 indicators (end of period)
Interest income (GEL mn)
381.6 339.9 296.86 275.70 227.44
Net profit / loss (GEL mn)
99.26 953.64 914.72 869.80 679.11
Bank assets (GEL mn)
56,870.98 47,183.37 39,682.98 34,593.50 30,149.32
Bank deposits (GEL mn)
23,709 21,390.76 18,273.92 15,717.54 13,662.0
Bank loans (GEL mn)
37,374.29 31,078.64 25,918.14 21,761.90 18,512.30
ROA (%)
-2.5% 2.5% 3.0% 3.1% 3.1%
ROE (%)
-20% 20.3% 23.3% 23.3% 22.1%
CAR (%)
17.6% 19.0% 18.4% 19.1% 15.1%
NPL to total gross loans (%)
2.3% 2.6% 2.6% 2.8% 3.4%
Source: National Bank of Georgia
36 GEORGIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com