The NBG fined FASTPAY

According to Natia Turnava, First Vice President of the National Bank of Georgia, microbanking institutions will increase competition in the financial sector. "There is a good opportunity to issue more banking products to micro businesses."JSC "Micro Business Capital" operated under the license of a microfinance organization before receiving the microbank license, its main business direction was financing small entrepreneurs, which was the main determinant for receiving a microbank license.A business wishing to transform into a bank must be a financier, and not a pawnbroker, as RICO (the largest) and others are.JSC "Micro Business Capital" will continue to actively finance small businesses and will also be strengthened by joining the real-time settlement system (RTGS).

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The change was mainly due to a 4.4 percent increase in the average monthly nominal wages of employees in the construction sector, which contributed 0.7 percentage points to the total index change.Compared to October 2023 the CCI increased by 6.8 percent. The latter was largely caused by the 31.5 percent increase in average monthly nominal wages of employees in the construction sector and by the 3.2 percent increase in the prices of construction materials, which contributed 5.07 and 1.96 percentage points to the total index change, respectively.Along with this, the Construction Cost Index posted a 20.1 percent increase compared to February 2022.

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“These are peaceful protests involving families and children”, she told the Georgian Public Broadcaster, citing her observations of the rallies as “unique in their lack of violence or vandalism”.The official also said Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze “must resign” for “failed crisis management”, adding “a PM who cannot navigate through a crisis, seeks no political compromise, and resorts only to intimidation must be replaced”.Zourabichvili said once the PM resigned, she would annonce an election rerun within two weeks.The official, whose term expires this month with the new Presidential elections scheduled for December 14, highlighted the necessity for dialogue to “determine the framework” of the new parliamentary elections, claiming the approach represented “compromise, depolarisation, and stability, paving the way for a peaceful and democratic future for the nation”.The President further expressed concerns over the use of fireworks and pyrotechnics by demonstrators against the law enforcement, acknowledging safety risks but asserting “this is not the real issue”.She pointed instead to the presence of police forces in metro stations and residential areas, describing their actions as “intimidation against citizens”.Zourabichvili further defended her decision to engage directly with protesters, dismissing criticism over her attendance at demonstrations.“I stood with my people, I went to ask law enforcement why they were acting against citizens instead of protecting them”, she said.Addressing claims by Kobakhidze that the protests had been “brought under control” following seizures of fireworks and other items from opposition party offices in Tbilisi this week, the President dismissed them as “propaganda”, arguing that citizens' peaceful demands should have been respected from the outset.The President also reiterated her stance on the legitimacy of the Parliament after what she has described as “rigged” October elections, maintaining that an “illegitimate Parliament cannot elect a legitimate President” following the end of her term, and urging the public to “remain patient” for her forthcoming clarification on the issue.The President also claimed she “firmly stood” by Georgia’s “future as a democratic, independent nation”, adding “I will not apologise to nor compromise on our sovereignty”, in reference to  ruling party officials offering an apology to those in the Russian-occupied regions of the country, following the Government’s claims that the previous United National Movement Government had incited the 2008 Russia-Georgia war”. 

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In 2023, the largest export of champagne from France was made to the United States, which amounted to a total of €769.3 million. The United Kingdom is in second place with €513.54 million, and Singapore is in third place with €405.09 million.As for Georgia's neighboring countries, in 2023, Turkey is in 35th place in the ranking of the export market for champagne from France. During this period, Turkey imported €12.53 million worth of champagne from France, Azerbaijan imported €1.12 million, and Armenia imported €0.48 million worth of champagne.According to Geostat, in 2023, a total of $590.71 million worth of wine was exported from Georgia to France (including sparkling wine). As for imports, $2,559.63 million worth of wine (including sparkling wine) was imported from France to Georgia during the reporting period.

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Total trade amounted to 4.011 billion USD, an annual increase of 43% (10/23 – $2.8 billion; +$1.2 billion Y.Y ). The bulk of the transactions were made by individuals and legal entities, with a small share from non-resident banks. The NBG’s share approached 15% (14.7%).Market participants note that the indicator is unprecedented. It has never been in double digits. The maximum for the year was within 4%.The NBG has stated that it intervenes in the foreign exchange market in such a way (when balancing excessive volatility) as to avoid threats to medium and long-term exchange rate stability.In total, the National Bank's net sales during the month amounted to 591.1 million USD.NBG's share in the foreign exchange market and purchases (sales) on Bmatch

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“If we see excessive exchange rate fluctuations and the impact of non-economic factors on the GEL, we have all the levers at our disposal to intervene if necessary,” Natia Turnava stated at the session of the Finance and Budget Committee of the Parliament.According to her, against the backdrop of political tension, there are some agitated fluctuations in the market, but as soon as the situation stabilizes, the pressure on the GEL exchange rate will be removed.“Today, we have all the prerequisites for maintaining equilibrium naturally. We are already seeing the first signs of stabilization in the foreign exchange market. "There are no other economic factors that would cause fundamental changes and the depreciation of the lari at this stage," said Natia Turnava.According to her statement, unlike this period, during the pre-election period, due to deteriorating expectations, there was a very strong demand for the dollar and the supply practically stopped. Today, the market is balanced and dynamic. There are both buyers and sellers of foreign currency, and the market is slowly stabilizing."Naturally, non-economic factors exist, but we do not think that our intervention is necessary at the moment. At the same time, of course, the lever of intervention is in our hands and, if necessary, we will again use the right granted by the mandate and help the market," said the acting president of the NBG.The "Main Directions of Monetary and Foreign Exchange Policy" are developed annually by the Monetary Policy Committee of the National Bank of Georgia for the next three years and are submitted to the Parliament of Georgia for approval. The "Main Directions of Monetary Policy" provide the inflation target and the main monetary policy instruments that the National Bank uses in conducting monetary and foreign exchange policy.

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Speaking at the Budget and Finance Committee of the country’s Parliament, Turnava emphasised the importance of the central bank’s monetary policy, which she said employed an inflation targeting regime designed to maintain price stability. She noted this approach involved establishing an inflation target in advance and managing economic policies to keep inflation close to the goal in the medium term.“Consistent adjustments in monetary policy - both in terms of tightening and normalisation - along with effective transmission mechanisms in the economy within our existing framework, have resulted in a successful stabilisation of prices”, Turnava said.‘Despite facing strong external economic shocks in recent years, we have managed to keep inflation below our target rate. Since the beginning of 2023, we have seen a downward trend in inflation, maintaining levels below the target for 20 consecutive months. As of November 2024, inflation stood at just 1.3 percent”, the Acting Governor added.As a response to a declining inflation rate, Turnava said the National Bank began gradually reducing the monetary policy rate in May 2023, cutting it by a total of three percentage points to reach eight percent as of November 2024.“Based on the latest basic macroeconomic forecast, we anticipate that inflation this year will average around 1.2 percent. In the medium term, we expect it to stabilise around our target rate”, she said.

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According to the National Bank of Georgia, in the reporting month, GEL lending increased by 24% year-on-year and contributed 13.2 percentage points to the growth of total loans.At the same time, mortgage lending also accelerated, contributing 2.7 percentage points to the total growth. The annual growth rate is 13.1%, including the contribution of GEL mortgages to 14.54% (a decrease in foreign currency of -1.44%).Consumer loans remain the fastest growing. The contribution of GEL to the annual growth of 26.67% is 26.02%.In October, overdue loans increased by 162.4 million GEL to 790.1 million. 36.2% are denominated in the national currency.Banks with credit investments

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