Baku, Azerbaijan, July 11
By Tamilla Mammadova - Trend:
In the coming days, a rise in prices for essential goods in Georgia is expected, said the head of the Georgian Importers Association Iva Hasia, Trend reports with reference to commersant.ge.
According to him, recently the rate of the national currency has once again demonstrated instability, so we should not expect it to stabilize in short term.
"This is primarily due to negative factors that put pressure on the exchange rate," he said.
In addition, according to Hasia, it is unclear at what level the new exchange rate of lari will stabilize, allowing importers to set new prices for the products they import, but at the same time a rise in prices is inevitable.
“A rise in prices is expected not only directly with relation to imports, but also to local production, which uses imported raw materials in large quantities. At this stage, prices will be fixed approximately at the level of 2,9 lari per US dollar, but if the devaluation continues, respectively, the price increase will not be avoided,” said Iva Chkonia, head of the Georgian Distributors Association.
According to him, some companies are already targeting a rate of three lari for a dollar.
“At the same time, we should not forget that the rise in prices for fuel also contributes to the rise in prices,” he said.
According to him, Georgia is in a very difficult economic situation and the purchasing power of the national currency is very low. The national bank and the economic bloc of the government must act together to stabilize the situation in the foreign exchange market.
($1 = 2,87 GEL on July 9)