Government establishes institute to boost foreign investment
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, January 29
The government intends to encourage tourism, foreign direct investment (FDI) and export in order to halt the lari’s devaluation. According to them, a special institute will be established in order to stimulate Georgian export.
The statements came after Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili’s meeting with economic-profile ministers, the president of the national bank, the secretary of the Economic Council, the directors of Georgian Railways, the Investment Agency and the Partnership Fund.
The National Bank of Georgia has established a new official exchange rate according to which 1 USD will cost 2.01 GEL, starting from January 28.
“Despite the fact that there is a significant increase in inflation expectations and prices, we still do not face the price increase in general.
“If we see that the situation becomes tense in this direction, I think tightening the monetary policy would be the appropriate solution,” head of the National Bank Giorgi Kadagidze said, noting that the flow of foreign investment and tourists would benefit the lari.
Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri stated that attracting foreign investment has become complicated.
“The investors are careful about making investments not only in our region, but in general. Though, we have negotiations with several investors and discuss the opportunities of future cooperation,” Khaduri said.
Minister of Economy Giorgi Kvirikashvili announced after the meeting that the government and appropriate bodies had discussed the impact of the current economic situation on the country's economy.
"We have evaluated how much this affects our economy. We also set future steps. We are setting up an institute that will stimulate export. The state will provide export guarantees to private companies. Export funding institutes will be created in the near future,” Kvirikashvili said.
