Former UNM member initiates closure of the National Bank
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Tuesday, June 9
Member of the New Political Centre Zurab Japaridze (former member of the United National Movement party) has initiated a new draft, according to which the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) should be abolished and a Monetary Council should be created instead.
According to Japaridze, the Monetary Council should have fewer functions compared to the current NBG. In addition, the draft law also reads that the lari (GEL) should not be the only payment currency and the citizens should be allowed to use the currency which they deem necessary.
Japaridze is sure that this kind of reform is needed to make the GEL stable.
“This reform will bring down the risk of inflation to zero. Citizens who have loans in foreign currency, or the people who have saved money in GEL, people who receive their salaries in GEL will have much more stability. Besides, the government will not be able to raise prices artificially,” stated Japaridze.
Japaridze also said that Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili discussing the responsibility of the head of NGB Giorgi Kadagidze is extremely dangerous and damages the financial system.
“With their statements they discourage investors and create a sense of instability. After Kadagidze’s time in his post expires, Georgian Dream (GD) will appoint their puppet as a new head of NBG and worsen the situation of already devaluated GEL.
“That is why it is very important to take effective measures to protect the state and the people from instability and currency crises. The changes must be prepared as soon as possible, so that from next year we could use new monetary system already,” stated Japaridze.
The initiative has not yet been assessed by the majority members and the former team of Japaridze.
