Commercial Bank’s Supervisory Capital Up By 2 BLN

The panel also featured Aleš Michl, Governor of the Czech National Bank, and Zoltán Kurali, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary.During the session, the panelists examined the impact of geopolitical developments on central bank operations, monetary policy implementation, and international reserve management. Key focal points included reserve diversification strategies, emerging trends in stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI).As part of her working visit to London, Vice-Governor Jeladze also held bilateral meetings with representatives from various European central banks. Discussions centered on opportunities to enhance professional cooperation across central banks, current challenges in banking supervision and regulatory frameworks, and the practical application of emerging technologies, notably AI.The Central Banking Annual Meetings convene representatives from central banks, international financial institutions, and the broader financial sector. The event stands as a premier international platform for exchanging professional expertise and deliberating on pressing industry topics.

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In May, annual inflation stood at 5.7 percent. The increase in inflation relative to the 3 percent target was mainly driven by a significant increase in energy resources prices. These inflationary pressures mainly reflect external factors, including elevated volatility in international energy prices and supply-side disruptions. At the same time, measures of relatively sticky prices, which better reflect long-term inflation expectations, have shown a slight acceleration in the recent period. In particular, core inflation (excluding food, energy and tobacco) stood at 3.5 percent in May, while services inflation was 3.8 percent. Although these indicators remain significantly below headline inflation, their recent dynamics continue to point to risks of strengthening second-round effects. On the other hand, international commodity markets have recently experienced a notable correction in energy prices. Amid growing optimism regarding the prospect of a peace agreement between the US and Iran, international oil prices have declined significantly from their peak levels. This is consistent with the NBG’s central scenario. In particular, the central scenario assumed that strong pressure on inflation caused by the external shock would occur in the second quarter of this year, after which its impact would gradually ease. Therefore, according to the central scenario, inflation will continue its downward tendency from the second quarter of 2026 and will average 4.9 percent in 2026, and will gradually return to the target in the medium term.Economic activity remains strong. The economy grew by 6.2 percent in April 2026, while average growth in the first four months of the year reached 8.3 percent. Notably, high-productive sectors remain a key driver of economic growth, partially offsetting demand-side inflationary pressures.Global uncertainty remains elevated. The main sources of this uncertainty remain the further evolution of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, developments in international energy prices, and the timeline for the restoration of damaged infrastructure. Therefore, the MPC, in addition to the central scenario, considered both high and low-inflation risk scenarios.In the event of the realization of the high-inflation risk scenario, fundamental processes require a higher trajectory of the monetary policy rate than the central scenario. The high-inflation scenario assumes a further escalation of geopolitical tension over a prolonged period, which would result in additional damage to infrastructure and a delay in the recovery process. Against this backdrop, commodity prices in the international market will increase further and the disruption of supply chains will become widespread. As a result, the supply-side inflationary shock would amplify in Georgia, strengthening second-round effects, and ultimately inflation would be higher than in the central scenario.On the other hand, under the low-inflation risk scenario considered by the MPC, the realization of the risks would allow a faster normalization of monetary policy rate compared to the central scenario. The low-inflation risk scenario assumes that a peace agreement in the Middle East would lead to an immediate stabilization of prices at international commodity markets. In such a case, pressures on energy prices would ease rapidly, which would be reflected in lower domestic inflation. At the same time, Georgia’s external position remains robust. Despite the significant external shock, FX inflows continue to be strong, while the country’s sovereign risk premium remains low, supporting the stability of the real effective exchange rate. Moreover, the continued relative weakness of the U.S. dollar in global markets serves as an additional supportive factor. If these conditions persist, imported goods inflation is likely to be lower than expected, and, as a result, headline inflation will converge to the target more rapidly than in the central scenario.As a result of the ongoing macroeconomic analysis and consideration of existing risks, the MPC considered it appropriate to keep the monetary policy rate unchanged at 8.25 percent. The NBG continues to closely monitor ongoing developments and the intensity of their transmission to the domestic market. If inflationary shocks stemming from geopolitical tensions become even more prolonged and/or their magnitude would amplify the risks of second-round effects, the MPC will continue to moderately increase the monetary policy rate. Thereafter, once the inflationary shock dissipates, the NBG will begin a gradual normalization of the policy stance.The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee will be held on July 29, 2026.

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თბილისი (GBC) - Visa (NYSE: V) today announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI to enable secure Visa payments within agentic commerce, enabling seamless and trusted payments across OpenAI platforms. The companies made the announcement at the Visa Payments Forum in San Francisco. Through the partnership, Visa will provide its global network, credentialing capabilities and security infrastructure to support agentic commerce experiences, helping consumers and businesses interact and transact with confidence.The collaboration is part of the broader Visa Intelligent Commerce initiative, which is focused on extending secure payment capabilities into new digital environments. Together, Visa and OpenAI will also explore a range of enterprise applications, including developer-focused experiences powered by Codex, as well as more automated and conversational workflows, as AI continues to evolve as an important interface for digital interactions.As part of the partnership, Visa’s payment capabilities will be integrated into OpenAI experiences giving developers and merchants a streamlined way to accept Visa payments initiated by agents. Alongside OpenAI, Visa will deliver the underlying network, tokenization and risk capabilities that support trusted and secure transactions.Transactions will operate within clearly defined user permissions, policies, and controls, such as spending limits, merchant categories, or required approvals. Transactions will use tokenized Visa credentials and real-time authorization and fraud monitoring, helping enable new AI-enabled payment experiences to maintain strong security and consumer protection.“AI will transform commerce more profoundly than the internet or mobile technology ever did,” said Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Visa. “As AI agents become active participants in the economy, Visa’s focus is to ensure transactions are trusted, secure and seamless. That’s the infrastructure we’re building with partners like OpenAI.”"Commerce is going to happen in many more places and in many more ways than it does today, and agents will play an increasingly important role in helping people complete tasks that involve money—from purchases and payments to more complex transactions,” said Marco Mahrus, Head of Partnerships, Commerce at OpenAI. “By integrating with Visa Intelligent Commerce, we're building the infrastructure for secure, transparent, and user-controlled agentic transactions, helping people do more with AI agents while maintaining confidence that payments are being handled safely and securely." 

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The relevant decision was made by the Financial Stability Committee of the National Bank of Georgia in May, which was officially confirmed by the order of the President of the National Bank of Georgia on June 15. The aforementioned change invalidates the order of July 2025, which set the mandatory larization limit at 750,000 GEL. With the new regulation, this mark increases to 1 million GEL.According to the new rule, citizens and companies whose income is in GEL will no longer be able to take out loans of up to 1 million GEL in foreign currency. In addition, the National Bank specifies that any credit that is in any way tied to or indexed to a foreign currency will not be considered issued in GEL. The regulation also applies to guarantees of an individual, and in certain cases, to obligations arising from bank guarantees and letters of credit.According to the National Bank, the restriction will not apply to several exceptional cases, namely: If, as a result of the issuance of a loan, the borrower’s total liabilities to a specific bank or microfinance organization exceed GEL 1 million; If the borrower is not a citizen of Georgia or is a legal entity not registered in Georgia; If the loan is fully secured by a deposit/cash in the same foreign currency; If the borrower receives sufficient income in the relevant foreign currency to service the loan; If an existing loan is refinanced or restructured in the same currency and the amount of the obligation does not increase. The change will enter into force on July 1, 2026 and its purpose is to reduce currency risks in the financial sector and support the process of larization of the economy.

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The largest amount - $64 million - was transferred from the USA, with an annual increase of 8%. For the same period last year, the annual increase in cash flows from the USA exceeded 23%.There is also a decrease from the European Union, the annual increase is up to 6% (L/Y + 17.3%Y.Y). In May 2025, the growth was more than 17%.As of 01.06.2026, the USA is still leading the donor countries ranking with a 19% share, although with a yearly trend of +3.038%Y.Y. China is ahead by a large margin, whose share in total remittances is still modest - 0.7%.

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Speaking at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Vučić noted that Georgia’s 9.3% first-quarter economic growth stands out compared to European countries. He said such performance would be “extraordinary even in Western Europe” and highlighted Georgia’s progress since 2012.The Serbian president also pointed to sectoral developments, including strong growth in tourism and a reported 12% increase in construction activity. He said Serbia is analyzing Georgia’s economic data to identify areas for potential policy lessons.Vučić emphasized the “brotherly” ties between the two countries, rooted in shared Orthodox traditions, and met with the acting head of the Georgian Orthodox Church during his visit, marking his first official trip to Georgia.

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Kobakhidze also paid special attention to the trade and economic potential and welcomed the active work on the free trade agreement between the two countries.“We have made great progress in this process, only a few issues remain to be agreed upon, after which both sides will be ready to sign the free trade agreement. This agreement will create new opportunities for business, contribute to the growth of trade turnover and attraction of investments,” the Prime Minister noted.The Head of Government also stressed the need to develop transport and logistics ties. According to him, Georgia, as an integral part of the “middle corridor”, is ready to deepen its partnership with Serbia in order to fully utilize the transit potential between Europe and Asia.In addition to the economic agenda, the parties discussed regional security and the principles of sovereignty. Irakli Kobakhidze thanked Aleksandar Vučić for his firm support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and reaffirmed that Georgia also unwaveringly supports the sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia.The Prime Minister called Serbia’s decision to open an embassy in Tbilisi an extremely important step, adding that this diplomatic mission will further strengthen the political dialogue between the two countries.

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According to economic activity, the highest monthly earnings were observed in the following sectors: Financial and insurance activities – 5 952.5 GEL (increased by 7.9 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year); Information and communication – 4 290.7 GEL (increased by 3.1 per cent); Mining and quarrying – 3 230.4 GEL (increased by 11.8 per cent); Professional, scientific and technical activities – 3 186.0 GEL (increased by 7.1 per cent). In the first quarter of 2026, the average earnings for women equalled 1 901.8 GEL, while for men, they were 2 836.0 GEL. The annual earnings growth amounted to 157.7 GEL (9.0%) for women and 234.7 GEL (9.0%) for men. In almost all sectors, men’s average monthly earnings exceeded those of women.In the I quarter of 2026, the average monthly earnings of employees in the business sector increased by 166.3 GEL (7.7%) and equalled 2 335.9 GEL. According to the economic activity, the highest monthly earnings were observed in Information and communication (4 358.6 GEL, increased by 2.4 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year) and Professional, scientific and technical activities (3 632.7 GEL, increased by 6.8 per cent).In the first quarter of 2026, compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the average monthly earnings of employees in the non-business and financial sector increased by 242.8 GEL (11.2%) and amounted to 2 413.7 GEL. According to the economic activity, the highest monthly earnings were observed in the Financial and insurance activities.Tbilisi and the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region lead in terms of average monthly earnings.

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