National Bank of Georgia and Central Bank of Azerbaijan sign cooperation memorandum

The parties discussed issues of strengthening regional cooperation in the field of monetary policy and central bank activities. The discussion touched upon the regional macroeconomic environment, the financial sector, and the impact of geopolitical factors on monetary policy.Speaking about Georgia's macroeconomic outlook and monetary policy, Natia Turnava noted that the Georgian economy remains resilient to shocks. Inflation is below the target and economic growth is high. Price stability has been achieved through prudent decisions of the NBG's monetary policy, including timely tightening and subsequent gradual easing. As the President of the National Bank of Georgia noted, inflation will remain below the target in the coming months. From a financial stability perspective, the Georgian banking sector maintains solid profitability and healthy credit growth, in which the contribution of business loans is of paramount importance.The meeting of the representatives of the central banks of the two countries focused on the opportunities for the development of financial services between the countries, including issues of improving the efficiency of cross-border payments. Currently, the National Bank of Georgia is working on the modernization of the payment infrastructure to make it faster and more efficient. These are two of the most important projects: upgrading the RTGS system and introducing an instant payment system. The parties agreed that within the framework of cooperation, they will explore the possibilities of cooperation in the field of payments in order to reduce transaction costs and increase efficiency.At the meeting, the parties also discussed regional cooperation in the field of fintech. It is worth noting that in recent years both countries have taken significant steps towards the development of innovations. As noted at the meeting, deepening cooperation between the central banks of the two countries will contribute to the transition to a new stage of development of financial services.After the meeting, Natia Turnava and Taleh Kazimov signed a memorandum of cooperation.The meeting at the Central Bank of Azerbaijan was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of Azerbaijan Zurab Pataradze.The meeting was also attended by Tamta Sopromadze, Head of the Macroeconomics and Statistics Department of the National Bank of Georgia, Vakhtang Sikharulishvili, Head of the Banking Supervision Department, Natalia Chkoidze, Head of the Payment Systems Department, and Giorgi Edilashvili, Head of the International Relations Department.

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Ultimately, this year, Georgian wine will be presented in about 20 countries around the world, where Georgian wine producers will participate in all major international exhibitions and festivals of wine and alcoholic beverages.The National Wine Agency also told GBC that the budget of the contract signed with the British marketing company "Swirl Wine Group" is 1,120,000 GEL.The goal of this cooperation is to maximize the awareness and export potential of Georgian wine in the UK market.Within the framework of the contract, this year, Georgian wine tasting seminars will be held in various cities of the United Kingdom for wine professionals, representatives of the wine trade and consumers; targeted advertising and media campaigns will be implemented; wine tours will be organized in Georgia for wine professionals, media and sales representatives.With the financial and organizational support of the National Wine Agency, Georgian wine-producing companies will participate in the international exhibition London Wine Fair in London on May 19-21. The indicative budget of this project will be 100 thousand GEL.In 2024, the National Wine Agency spent approximately 16 million GEL on a similar campaign, and in 2023 – 14 million GEL.

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The increase was observed in the production value of the business sector as well. In 4Q2024, production value equaled 23.5 billion GEL, which is 10.8% more year-on-yea.In 4Q2024, large businesses generated 67.6% of total turnover, while medium-sized businesses generated 14.9%, and 17.5% was generated by small businesses.A distribution was slightly different in case of total production value: 43.8% was on large businesses, 25.1% - on medium, and 31.1% - on small businesses.In 4Q2024, total purchases of goods and services carried out by enterprises equaled 33.2 billion GEL (year-on-year 8.6 percent more), while the purchase of goods and services for resale amounted to 18.8 billion GEL (year-on-year 0.6 percent less).In 4Q2024, the average number of persons employed in business sector equaled 811.8 thousand, which is year-on-year 3.8% more. Out of the total number of persons employed, 43.7% were female and 56.3% were male.Large businesses employed 41.7 percent of total number of persons, while 21.5 percent were employed by medium, and 36.9 percent - by small businesses.The total number of employees amounted to 764.2 thousands (year-on-year 3.0 percent more).The total personnel costs of enterprises equaled 5 536.6 million GEL (year-on-year 10.9 percent more). In 4Q2024, average monthly remuneration of employed persons equaled 2 367 GEL (170.8 GEL increase year-on-year) while remuneration of employed women specifically was 1 847 GEL (159.7 GEL increase year-on-year). Average monthly remuneration of employed persons by size of enterprises is as follows:⦁ Large business - 2 466 GEL⦁ Medium business - 2 750 GEL⦁ Small business - 1 969 GELIn 4Q2024, construction (20.5 percent), trade (18.6 percent), manufacturing (17.6 percent) and transportation and storage (9.5 percent) held the top four places in business sector by production value. Rest of sectors had 33.8 percent share.In 4Q2024, trade (wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles), manufacturing, and human health and social work activities led business sector by number of employees (accordingly with 28.5 percent, 11.3 percent and 9.2 percent share).However, enterprises engaged in construction activities (8.6 percent), transportation and storage (8.2 percent), information and communication (6.2 percent), and accommodation and food service activities (5.3 percent) had also a significant share.

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The updated requisites required for USD transfers and deposits are now available for both businesses and individuals via internet and mobile banking or at Liberty Bank branches."The Bank of New York Mellon is one of the largest financial institutions in the world in the correspondent network market. Partnering with them is an international recognition of Liberty's success. Before the partnership came into effect, Liberty underwent a rigorous evaluation process that, in addition to various financial criteria, required compliance with high reliability standards. I want to thank every member of the Liberty team, whose contributions are essential to our continuous development as a universal financial institution and to offering international-standard services to our business and retail customers", - Vakhtang Babunashvili, Chief Financial Officer.About The Bank of New York Mellon CorporationThe Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon) is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York. The company was founded in 2007 through the merger of The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation and is now one of the world's largest corporate banks.BNY Mellon specializes in asset management and trust services, operating in over 100 markets worldwide. As of 2024, it ranks as the 13th largest bank in the United States and the 83rd largest globally in terms of total assets.About Liberty BankLiberty Bank is one of Georgia’s largest commercial banks, serving over 1.7 million individuals and more than 50,000 small and medium-sized businesses. The bank's assets amount to 5 billion GEL, and it employs over 5,500 people.Liberty operates the country's most extensive banking network, with more than 360 service centers, 632 ATMs, and self-service and POS terminals across all regions and municipalities of Georgia. In addition to its well-developed infrastructure, Liberty offers modern digital services and remote banking solutions for both individuals and businesses.

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Compared to the same period last year, the number of exported apples increased by 10.9 thousand tons (6.3 times), and the value - by 6.8 million USD (6.1 times).Georgian apples were exported to Russia (12,848 tons), 60 tons of apples were exported to Kazakhstan, 21 tons - to Turkey and 2 tons - to Armenia.

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The export price YoY went up by 16% and reached USD 6.14 per kilogram. The export countries were Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Czechia, Armenia, China, Turkey, Israel, Russia and Ukraine.Compared to the same period last year, the volume of exported walnuts increased by 2.1 thousand tons (18 percent), and the value increased by 22.4 million US dollars (36 percent).

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According to NBG Governor Natia Turnava, competition in the financial services industry plays a crucial role in driving the development of the financial sector. Sound competition enhances efficiency, fosters innovation, and encourages the creation of better products for consumers. It also leads to lower costs and strengthens the industry's international competitiveness.“Our financial market is well-developed and stable, yet new players continue to enter the sector. We are in the process of licensing digital banks, two new micro banks have recently joined the market, and we also have non-bank entities such as virtual asset service providers and payment service providers. Our goal is to ensure a level playing field where all market participants have equal opportunities to offer financial services. Ultimately, greater competition will enhance financial product availability, reduce costs, and allow consumers to access services on more favorable terms,” said Turnava.Pietro Calice, World Bank Senior Financial Sector Economist, emphasized the importance of balancing competition with financial stability—NBG’s primary mandate.„The National Bank of Georgia has been proactive in enforcing competition law in the financial sector and can now complement its current efforts by introducing ex-ante regulatory measures ensuring that ex-ante regulation also fosters competition. Initiatives such as the Open Banking Framework, the Digital Finance Framework, and Fast Payment Systems are examples of ex-ante regulations that are conducive to competition. Our technical assistance aims to support the NBG in adopting a more systematic approach to the ex-ante regulation, ensuring that the impact of updated regulations and innovations is carefully considered,” said Calice.The National Bank of Georgia has made significant strides since 2021 in developing a regulatory framework and implementing ex-post competition enforcement mechanisms. With the support of the World Bank’s technical assistance, aimed at further strengthening competition in the financial sector, efforts are now shifting toward ex-ante enforcement. This initiative will help the NBG to identify the regulations that could be hindering market dynamics.

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Lion Finance Group (BGEO LN) shares closed at GBP 52.90/share (- 0.75% w/w and +16.52% m/m). More than 352k shares traded in the range of GBP 52.40 - 59.30/share. Average daily traded volume was 48k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of BGEO shares traded was at 0.79% of its capitalization.TBC Bank Group (TBCG LN) closed the week at GBP 43.00/share (+4.62% w/w and +32.72% m/m). More than 754k shares changed hands in the range of GBP 40.90 - 44.10/share. Average daily traded volume was 137k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of TBCG shares traded was at 1.34% of its capitalization.Georgia Capital (CGEO LN) shares closed at GBP 14.44/share (+8.08% w/w and +20.74% m/m). More than 413k shares traded in the range of GBP 13.42 - 14.78/share. Average daily traded volume was 59k in the last 4 weeks. The volume of CGEO shares traded was at 1.05% of its capitalization. 

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