BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 21
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The banking system of Georgia entered the COVID-19 shock well-capitalized and with higher liquidity buffers, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief for Georgia, Mercedes Vera-Martin told Trend.
According to her, measures taken by the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) in recent years improved the banking sector's capacity to withstand shocks.
"As a response to the COVID-19 shock, the NBG allowed banks to release capital and liquidity and provided additional funding in lari and in foreign currency to banks and microfinance institutions," Vera-Martin said.
As she noted, banks have been proactive in securing additional sources for finance and in providing some breathing space to clients with loan moratoria and loan restructuring.
"So far, we have not seen a significant deterioration in credit quality and credit to the private sector has continued to grow robustly, driven by credit to large enterprises and mortgages, which have been supported by the recently introduced subsidies," she said.
According to IMF Mission Chief, banks and other financial institutions play a crucial role in mitigating the economic impact of the crisis and in supporting the recovery during the post-pandemic period, continuing servicing clients’ demand for credit for both operational cash flow management and investment purposes.
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