Baku, Azerbaijan, September 28
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
As a result of the steps taken by the National Bank of Georgia, the lari will stabilize and will begin to strengthen before the end of the year, said Minister of Finance of Georgia Ivane Machavariani, Trend reports citing Georgian media.
According to him, there are all conditions to think about strengthening lari exchange rate.
“I want to say that the fiscal policy pursued by the government does not contribute to the depreciation of lari. Our fiscal deficit is as planned. Our expenses are responsible; therefore, from this side pressure on the lari does not occur . I believe that the recent steps taken by the National Bank will bring results and lari will not only stabilize, but also will begin to strengthen before the end of the year,” said Machavariani.
The new official rate of the National Bank of Georgia, established as a result of yesterday's auction, is 2.9555 lari for 1 USD and 3.2286 lari for 1 Euro.
Thus, the lari strengthened by 2.56 tetri against the USD and by 2.85 tetri against the Euro. The lari also strengthened against the Turkish lira and the British pound.
Strengthening of the lari occurred against the backdrop of the decision of the National Bank to sell at auction $40 million from the country's foreign exchange reserves.
The average weighted rate of lari to the USD at the auction amounted to 2.9346 lari per $1.