Baku, Azerbaijan, August 2
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) sold $32.8 million on exchange auction (for 2.9283 lari per USD) as the Georgian lari continued to drop, Trend reports via the National Bank of Georgia.
After the auction, the official exchange rate of the Georgian lari strengthened by 1.4 percent: the National Bank set it on August 2 at the level of 2.9296 lari / $1 against the next historical minimum of 2.9718 lari / $1 on August 1.
The NBG announced that it would sell $40 million on exchange auction, as the exchange rate had reached a level “that might pose a risk to price stability” amid “the tourism-related shocks and negative expectations”.
It also underscored that if the exchange rate would still affect inflation, the NBG would “tighten monetary policy” as well.
NBG has implemented foreign exchange intervention for the first time since December 2016. In 2017-2019, foreign exchange reserves were filled up by $492 million.