Finance

Liberty To Issue USD 5 million Foreign Exchange Bonds

The annual interest rate is 13.5%, set at 20:00 Tbilisi time and 11:00 Washington time on Friday, with a 5-year SOFR swap rate.After 5 years (if the issuer does not redeem the bonds before that time), the yield will be adjusted at the rate at that time (9.6070% +X=Y).

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Most of the cars are ensured by TBC

Compared to last year, the number of policies issued for land transport insurance has increased by more than 10% (L/Y – 122,360, +10.3%Y.Y).Only 7% of registered cars in Georgia are insured. Over the 14-year period, there has been an increase of only 1%. The coefficient for the same period in 2020 is - 6%.Insurance has become more expensive. For 9M2024, the premium attracted by land transport insurance is 192 million GEL, (9m2023 – 153.4, +41% Y.Y).With 47.3 million GEL and a 25% share, the market leader is TBC. Aldagi is in 2nd position - with 43.3 million GEL of attracted premiums (23%), 3rd is "GPI" - 25.9 million GEL (13%).

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GPI is the market leader

Compared to last year, the number of policies issued for land transport insurance has increased by 3.4% (L/Y - 725 710; +3.4%Y.Y).20% of the population benefits from medical insurance. Since 2020, the increase has been only 4 percentage points.6% of vehicles is registered in Georgia are insured.For 9M2024, the premium attracted by medical insurance amounted to 428 million GEL in total (19 companies).24% of the market (attracted premium 103 million) is controlled by GPI. 20% (83.1 million) of Imedi L and 16% (69.2 million) of Ardi.

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NBG Keeps Its Monetary Policy Rate At 8%

Inflation remains below the 3% target. In November, the overall price level increased by 1.3 percent year-over-year, while core inflation stood at 1.6 percent. It is noteworthy that the maintenance of a low-inflation environment has largely been ensured by consistent monetary policy, which has been reflected in stable long-term inflation expectations. In particular, prices of domestically produced goods and services, which are relatively sticky and therefore reflect long-term inflation expectations, are increasing at a moderate pace, with an annual change of 1.8 percent in November. At the same time, economic activity this year has been strong. According to preliminary data, average economic growth for the first ten months of the year is 10 percent. However, alongside robust demand, the NBG assesses that the economy's potential has also increased, which partially offsets inflationary pressures stemming from strong demand. According to the current forecast, other things being equal, inflation will remain below the target in 2024, averaging 1.2 percent, and will stabilize around 3 percent in the medium term.Despite these trends, the economic outlook is characterized by high uncertainty. Both significant domestic factors and geopolitical tensions in the region may increase the country’s sovereign risk premium and, as a result, generate inflationary pressures. Additionally, volatility in global oil and food prices on international markets has increased. Notably, international food commodity prices have risen significantly in recent months, posing inflationary risks. Simultaneously, global shipping costs have also slightly increased. If these trends persist, higher international prices may pass through to local market prices, creating a risk of worsening inflation expectations.Based on the analysis of the current domestic and external environment, the National Bank of Georgia has decided to keep the monetary policy rate unchanged at 8.0 percent. A cautious approach to monetary policy normalization is crucial to ensure that inflation remains close to its target in the medium term. If inflationary risks do not materialize and the severity of inflation risks eases, the NBG will continue to gradually reduce the policy rate to its neutral level, currently estimated at 7 percent. However, if factors that increase inflation expectations re-emerge, monetary policy may need to be tightened or the current tight stance maintained for a longer period.The National Bank of Georgia continuously monitors ongoing economic processes and financial markets and will use all available tools to ensure price stability.The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee will be held on January 29, 2025.

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Loan availability increases with remittances

The total volume is 780 million USD. More than 13 million have been spent. At the moment, total liabilities are 5.807 billion USD.Information on remittances has been added to the Credit Information Bureau database since 01.03.2023.Registration is at the request of the beneficiary and 95% of remittance recipients choose to cooperate with Creditinfo.In total, the number of unique individuals is within 300,000. The expansion of the database is aimed at increasing access to loans for recipients of remittances.Information on remittances has been added to the Credit Information Bureau database since 01.03.2023.The NBG amended the regulation in the fall of 2022 and will provide information to the recipient of the transfer, the bank, MFO, Loan Entity or PSP customer, if desired, to the bureau. Payment service providers (PSPs) have joined CreditInfo since March this year.

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Pension loans have decreased

The number of loans has also decreased. As of Q3/2024, 301,827 loans have been issued (Q3/2023 – 354,400).As of 9 months. The pension-secured loan portfolio amounts to 423.3 million GEL (total value - 430 million). Pension loans are issued for a term of up to 4 years, with an annual interest rate of 26%. Pensioners account for 55.8% (Q3/2023 – 66.1%) of Liberty's retail loans (quantity).In the retail portfolio, which amounts to 1.870 billion GEL as of 9 months, 22.6% of loans account for pension loans.Pension loans are issued to beneficiaries under the age of 80 (overdraft up to 76 years)As the bank says, the loan is available only to pensioners who have a preliminary offer, which the potential borrower will find out at the branch.

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Silk increases its capital

As of the bank, the increase in November is more than 5.5 million (5 689 226). According to the management, the injection is not related to the regulator's request. The founders wanted it.Financing is needed for the development of digital channels.According to 11-month statistics, Silk, with assets of 219 million GEL, is represented by a market share of up to 0.25%. It occupies 0.18% of the credit portfolio.

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Georgia is in the top seven out of 27 countries assessed by MONEYVAL

According to Turnava, this is a recognition of the fruitful work of the National Bank of Georgia and its team.“The National Bank of Georgia supervises virtual asset service providers, that is, organizations whose activities are related to virtual/crypto assets. We have worked very hard to strengthen our supervisory framework precisely in the direction of money laundering. This is high recognition, recognition of the effective work of our team. It is interesting that out of the 27 Council of Europe member states assessed by MONEYVAL, only 7 countries, and now Georgia, have such a high score in this regard. This is an essential broad compliance with the framework, with our framework legislation. "I think this is a really important recognition that will give us more incentive to further improve our team's work in this area," said Turnava.The Council of Europe's Select Committee of Experts on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (Moneyval) has positively assessed the measures taken by the National Bank of Georgia to promote the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) in relation to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. Georgia's compliance rating with Recommendation 15 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has improved from "Partially Compliant" to "Largely Compliant". It is worth noting that, according to Moneyval, only 7 out of 27 Council of Europe member states, including Georgia, have a "Largely Compliant" rating.

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HoReCa Sector has become passive

As of October, it is up to 5% in local currency and 7-7.5% in foreign. While the annual rate of non-performing loans in total investments does not exceed 1.3%.

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Lending to non-residents is decreasing

In October, a total of 140,000 GEL was disbursed to the industrial sector, while in September it was more than 8 million.Financing in the financial intermediation sector has decreased by 4.4 times. Only injections to the construction sector have increased. In October, tranches of up to 400,000 GEL were disbursed.Financing of resident clients is dynamic. Monthly disbursements are also stable. In October, the trade sector dominates with 1.3 billion GEL.

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Politics

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Population takes to the streets not because of social problems, but wh...

She stated the above in her address to the European Parliament.“Georgia protests when the Georgian population feels, perceives a threat to Europeanness and independence. There have never been mass protests in Georgia regarding social issues, there are many reasons for this, although the situation in this regard is not satisfactory at all, quite the opposite. The only time when people took to the streets en masse was when they felt that this was an existential issue and that it was at stake. This is happening today. This is a very peaceful movement, a mass civil disobedience movement, and it demands two things - give me back my vote because the elections were stolen, give me back my future and most importantly, my European future, and also, there is a demand for new elections. This is not a revolutionary movement, in its essence, because there is no demand for that. The demand is to return to new elections, in a peaceful environment, and to see where the will of those people who took to the streets and want this to happen democratically, in the form of a vote, is," Salome Zourabichvili said.

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In fact, we had the “Russian elections” - President

As the President explained, she wanted to talk to the Minister of Internal Affairs about the cases of violence that occurred during the elections, but she could not get in touch with him.“In fact, we had the “Russian elections”. These are elections that were massively rigged, carried out at a very high, sophisticated level. This was not the usual fraud that we see in elections.Changes to the Electoral Code were planned, which began much earlier. Full control was transferred to the CEC. Those people who were appointed by the CEC were not appointed in accordance with the rules that the European Union proposed, but were appointed by the government. Electronic voting was developed without control. There was talk that pensions of European older citizens had been stolen, and there were also issues of "call centers" - the issue of 3,500 "call centers". Intimidation, use of administrative resources, Russian-style propaganda, there were posters where on one side there were destroyed churches and theaters of Ukraine, and on the other side, an image of a prosperous Georgia. This shocked the Georgian society so much that they were then dismantled. This is not an integral part of the Georgian character, it showed Russian traces. There were also facts: “The opposition wants to overthrow the government”, “They should be abolished after the elections”, “Opposition parties should be banned after the elections”, “The leaders should be arrested”. A large amount of “black money” was used. 600 million GEL was spent during the October elections. You would not find the police during the elections. For example, I saw violence taking place in various polling stations. I called the Minister of Internal Affairs and I could not reach him either by mobile phone or through the government network. I could not contact his deputies, they did not call me back either.2 principles were violated during the elections. This is enough to show that any result would have been different. A million members of the diaspora are in Strasbourg. Strasbourg is a very good example, no polling station was opened here, there are many Georgians in Strasbourg. The entire diaspora was mobilized, they knew that the elections were the choice between the path to Russia or Europe.Also, there was a question of trust in terms of confidentiality - electronic systems were used, party cameras were watching election machines. There was a lawsuit against all of this in the Constitutional Court. We hoped that some judges would understand and realize that this was the way out of the crisis. The results were falsified, elections should have been called constitutionally. There was another request from a group of citizens to the Strasbourg Court, where it was stated that we want to use all legal means to make a political decision on this deep crisis,” the President noted.

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PM views European Council's decision as anti-Georgian move

According to the PM, such decisions lead to the devaluation of European structures among the Georgian people.“The result of such decisions is that the European structures suffer constant devaluation in the perception of the Georgian society, which is a serious problem. As you know, the EU has recently conducted a Eurobarometer (a collection of cross-country public opinion surveys) based on which In the last six months, trust in the European structures in Georgia has reduced by 6%,” he said.The European Council decided to suspend visa-free travel for holders of Georgian diplomatic passports, following discussions at a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels on Monday, Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said.

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Kavelashvili to be elected as a president tomorrow with uncontested an...

Kavelashvili was nominated as the presidential candidate by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream party. When he presented the candidate, he said of Kavelashvili: "By his nature, if you like, by his habit, he is the best embodiment of a Georgian man."The president is being elected for the first time in Georgia under a new, indirect system, for a 5-year term.The electoral college consists of 300 members, of which 150 are members of the Parliament of Georgia, and the remaining 150 are recruited according to the following principle: All 21 members of the Supreme Council of Ajara All 20 members of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia 109 members – representatives from the municipal councils, who are distributed proportionally to the results of the previous elections. Out of the 300 members, as of today, the Georgian Dream has 211 members; the Akhali party has 20 members; the National Movement has 20 members; the Lelo party has 15 members; and the Gakharia party has 14 members.

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US Department of State imposes visa restrictions on Georgian 20 indivi...

According to the statement, “Today’s action will affect approximately twenty individuals, including individuals serving as government ministers and in Parliament, law enforcement and security officials, and private citizens.”“The United States strongly condemns the Georgian Dream party’s ongoing, brutal, and unjustified violence against Georgian citizens, including protesters, members of the media, human rights activists, and opposition figures.Georgian Dream has turned away from Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future, which the Georgian people overwhelmingly desire and the Georgian constitution envisions. We are committed to seeing that senior officials responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy will be subject to visa restrictions.We are preparing additional actions, including sanctions, to hold to account those who undermine democracy in Georgia.Alongside the people of Georgia, we want to see a strong, prosperous, and democratic Georgia firmly integrated in the Euro-Atlantic community. Our actions today demonstrate U.S. resolve and add to previously announced actions implicating more than 100 Georgian Dream-affiliated individuals and their family members,” reads the statement.