The Construction Cost Index Up By 5.9% In January Y-O-Y

“The amendments include a reduction in the maximum prepayment commission for loan/credit refinancing from another financial organization. For individuals and legal entities with total liabilities of up to two million GEL, the commission will decrease from the current 2% to 0.5%.These changes will lower the cost of transferring liabilities between financial organizations, fostering increased competition and offering more favorable conditions for consumers.Notably, for the first time, the amendments establish an upper limit of 2% for the prepayment commission on documentary operations (e.g., letters of credit, documentary collections, bank guarantees, acceptances). Previously, this area had not been regulated, leading to cases where higher commissions were imposed. In response, the NBG has deemed it necessary to address this gap in consumer protection.The National Bank of Georgia remains committed to protecting consumers’ and investors’ rights in the financial sector and promoting competition. These changes will strengthen the competitive environment, which plays a key role in safeguarding consumer rights.Moving forward, the National Bank will continue enhancing mechanisms to promote competition and ensure consumer protection,” the NBG states.

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The sale will begin on March 10, 2025, at 10:00 AM via the online platform www.tkt.ge and the cash desks of the National Bank.For the first three days, purchases will only be available on Tkt.ge, with additional costs for delivery, insurance, and service fees. Starting March 13, 2025, if stock remains, the coin will also be available on the NBG Money Museum online store.Coins will be available for purchase at the National Bank Cash Center and the Kvareli Money Museum: Cash Center (Tbilisi, Iason Lortkipanidze St. 2 / Kakheti Highway 72); Kvareli Money Museum (Kvareli, Shota Rustaveli St. 10);To ensure broader availability, sales will be limited to one coin per customer for the first five days across all official channels. The price per coin is 110 GEL.The coin was designed in collaboration with the Bakuriani 2025 Organizing Committee and minted in 5,000 copies by the Polish Mint.

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At the moment, 30 MFOs remain in the market, with about 3,500 staff. Rico employs about 900 staff, and Swiss Capital employs about 500.Rico is represented by the largest network, with 67 service centers (H1/2024 – 61). Swiss Capital is third with 35 branches (H1/2024 – 33). The second is "CreditService+" with 50 service centers.Retaining personnel cost the sector 100 million in 2024. Of this, 23.3 million are "Rico" expenses ((H1/2024 – 10.5 million).

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In January, the NBG’s foreign exchange sales, through internal government conversions in the banking system, reduced foreign exchange reserves by $168 million.According to the NBG’s “Monthly Review”, the NBG did not hold a foreign exchange auction in January and did not trade on BMatch.The NBG did not participate in interbank foreign exchange trading either. The trading volume decreased by $115 million in the month. The total GEL/USD turnover amounted to 86 million USD.The number of transactions decreased by -43.6%m.m (+10.9%Y.Y). Almost all (93.4%) are spot transactions. Trade amounted to $2.6 billion.The main part of spot transactions falls on residents, small, non-resident banks. The NBG did not intervene in the foreign exchange market in January.

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In January, according to the NBG's "Monthly Review", it decreased by 333 million GEL from 6.617 billion GEL to 6.284 billion GEL.According to NBG statistics, in January-February, refinancing loans increased by 250 million GEL and as of March, the balance is 4.656 billion GEL. The balance of overnight loans has increased to 2.23 billion GEL (in January - 349.5 million; in February +438 million)No transactions were made on treasury securities in the secondary market. The secondary capital market has been inactive since October 2023.

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According to the PM, the new US administration demonstrates different approaches, however, the European Union is not changing its stance, including regarding the war.“We should follow the development of events. Amid these developments, we should be concentrated on defending our national interests. This is the main priority and goal,” he said.Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze pays an official visit to Turkmenistan.

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The programme will commence shortly and end no later than the Company’s Annual General Meeting 2025 (expected to be in June 2025) and the shares will be purchased in the open market. The purpose of the buyback is to reduce the Group’s share capital, and the cancellation of the treasury shares repurchased will be executed on a monthly basis. The Programme will be conducted within certain pre-set parameters, and in accordance with the general authority to repurchase shares granted at the 2024 Annual General Meeting, Chapter 9 of the FCA UK Listing Rules, and the provisions of the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014/EU and of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (as they form part of UK domestic law). The maximum number of shares that may be repurchased under the programme is 3,860,721. The Company has appointed Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (“Cavendish”) to manage the Programme. During any closed periods the Company and its directors have no power to invoke any changes to the Programme and it will be executed at the sole discretion of Cavendish.The Company will make further announcements in due course following the completion of any share repurchases.

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"January rapid economic growth estimate came in at 11.1%, once again rather higher than our expectations;Spending on consumer durables through TBC channels declined further in February, indicating that sentiments have not recovered yet;Similarly, net FX purchases and deposit conversions moderated in February, although normalization at relatively higher levels signals that the market remains wary;Combining net inflows, global USD dynamics, even before recent weakening, and sentiments, our short-run equilibrium USD/GEL estimate strengthened to 2.78 as of January 2025;In light of recent USD weakening, which, coupled with a strong EUR, provides an upside to the GEL outlook, we reiterate our recommendation to avoid short-term overreaction within the GEL/EUR/USD and the UZS strategy;In this regard, unlike previous episodes of procyclical behaviour, lately, when the EUR was weaker, the share of EUR in corporate FX loans has been declining, a welcome development per our framework considering our estimates of EUR misalignment, even when adjusted for the relative riskiness for Georgia;Last but not least, annual inflation without one-offs approached the 3% target in February, with price changes in monthly terms indicating relative acceleration, an important development to keep an eye on", - the document reads.

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