BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 18
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Over the past year, 150 currency exchange offices have closed in Georgia, Trend reports via Georgian media.
According to official statistics, 944 currency exchange offices operated in Georgia in 2019. Today their number is 794.
In 2019, pawnshops and microfinance organizations were also closed across the country. According to experts, the main reason here was the new lending rules introduced by the National Bank, while currency exchange offices were unable to overcome the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
As reported, the first to close were currency exchange offices located in tourist areas, most of whose clients were foreigners.
“The segment of Georgian consumers, in their case, is small, since these consumers mainly pay for servicing loans. They convert money in banks. Accordingly, they have no active connections with exchange offices, ”said economist David Kikvadze.
From April through May 2020, all currency exchange offices, credit networks, payment service providers and some other small private companies in the finance sector were suspended in Georgia. The corresponding decision was made by the Georgian government to limit the spread of the new coronavirus in the country.
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