Page 43 - GEORptMay21

As can be seen from the data released by NBG and quoted by Business Media, the NPL share is highest in Bidzina Ivanishvili's Cartu Bank, where 35% of the GEL900mn ($270mn) loan portfolio is formed by non-performing loans. The NPL ratio of Cartu rose by only 2.2pp y/y, meaning that even before the crisis, Cartu was leading in this regard.
Silk Road bank also posts a high NPL ratio of 26.7% after a 7.2pp rise over the past 12 months.
As for the highest annual growth, Pasha Bank and Silk Road Bank are the first place with the annual rise of their NPL ratios at 7.2pp.
The NPL ratios have increased by 4.8pp and 4.6pp in 2020 at the systemic banks, Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank, respectively. Their NPL ratios were 8.4% and 7.7% respectively.
According to the official classification in Georgia, "non-performing loans" are loans of "non-standard, doubtful and loss category".
8.1.4 Bank specific regulations, issues
Georgia’s central bank to streamline FX market as of October
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has announced reforms aimed at providing more transparency and raising competition and liquidity in the foreign exchange market. The central bank said they would take effect as of October 1. The reforms are made up of two components: introducing the international currency code and launching the Bmatch platform of Bloomberg, Business Media reported.
With the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), international experts conducted training sessions for Georgian foreign exchange market participants and developed a new regulation. The regulation of foreign exchange market participants is based on the basic requirements of the international currency code, but at the same time takes into account the specifics of the local market.
The NBG said that both the international currency code and foreign exchange market stipulations aim to increase transparency and competition, establish fair, equitable conditions for market participants and better protect the interests of their customers.
“In accordance with international best practice, banks will be required to make transparent, and publish, full service rates and other terms on their websites and process and execute assignments in the best interests of privacy and the client. In order to maintain high standards of operations on the foreign exchange market, banks must provide appropriate organisational arrangements and IT infrastructure", the NBG said.
The second component of the reforms will launch a new trading platform of Bloomberg, namely Bmatch, which provides automatic matching and execution of counterparty transactions.
The NBG said that the Bmatch platform was introduced in Georgia in March and was operating in test mode. At this stage, the platform is already used by 15 banks, four microfinance organisations, one large company and a foreign investment fund.
43 GEORGIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com