Economic Minister says Gel will strengthen soon
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, September 18
The Minister of Economics and Sustainable Development, Dimitri Kumsishvili, stated that the national currency, the GEL, will regain value in the mid-term period.
The minister said that the sharp downturn of the national currency against the US dollar has been caused by the situation in the region and “created a stir” in the country.
Kumsishvili stated that Economics Ministry, along with the Finance Ministry and the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), are looking for a way out of the current economic situation.
“According to macroeconomic parameters, today we are re-evaluating the Lari, the rate is more impaired than macroeconomic parameters show. However, compared to last year, the pressure on our currency has been reduced by 100-180 million dollars and we are sure that the GEL is going to regain value in the mid-term period,” he said.
The Minister also pointed out that if market players fail to make correct expectations, the National Bank and the central government will take all necessary measures and if necessary, changes will be made to the expenditure part of the budget.
“We will consider adjustment of the budget if the country needs it once again, though at this stage we cannot see any need for it", said Kumsishvili.
According to the NBG President advisor, Giorgi Bakradze, negative expectations have a huge impact on Gel devaluation.
“When external shock was the main reason of lari depreciation, now the opinions of several experts and created negative expectations are the main problem,” Bakradze said.
The Advisor called upon the population not to believe such analysts and mitigate negative expectations.
"I believe that if the negative expectations are fizzled out, people will see the reality and will be assured that there is no reason to panic,” he added.
It should be noted that US Dollar rate in Georgia is continuously rising. The NBG set a new exchange rate on September 17, according to which 1 USD costs 2.4310 GEL. The previous day, the exchange rate was 2.4170 GEL.
