BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 1
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Lending to economy by commercial banks of Georgia decreased by 39 million lari ($12.8 million) in May 2020 compared with the previous month and amounted to 33.68 billion lari ($11.06 billion), Trend reports referring to National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
The annual growth rate of the loan portfolio of commercial banks amounted to 24.1 percent. Without the influence of the exchange rate, the annual increase in loans amounted to 16.3 percent.
According to NBG, the decrease in the loan portfolio was mainly due to the reduction in loans issued in national currency. Eighty-nine percent of the loan portfolio accounted for long-term loans, of which 60.6 percent were issued in foreign currency. In short-term loans, the share of foreign currency loans amounted to 42.2 percent.
In the reporting period, loans in national currency increased by 87.5 million lari ($28.7 million) and amounted to 14.81 billion lari ($4.8 million). The volume of loans issued in foreign currency in May increased by $71 million (1.1 percent) compared to the previous month and amounted to $6.34 billion at the end of the period.
Some 60.6 percent of loans in this category were loans to legal entities, and 89.3 percent - long-term loans.
As reported, an increase in lending in foreign currency was mainly due to a decrease in long-term lending to legal entities.
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