BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 1
Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Lending to the economy by Georgian commercial banks increased by 282.2 million lari ($82.9 million) In February 2021, compared to the previous month, and the total volume amounted to 37.9 billion lari ($11.1 billion), Trend reports via the February review of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).
According to the National Bank, the growth of the loan portfolio was influenced by the growth of lending in the national currency, as well as the growth of loans in foreign currency in lari due to the depreciation of the exchange rate.
According to the central bank, the annual growth rate of the loan portfolio issued by commercial banks was 21.4 percent.
Without the influence of the exchange rate, the annual growth of loans was 10.7 percent. Long-term loans accounted for 89.4 percent of the loan portfolio, of which 89.8 percent were issued in foreign currency. The share of loans in foreign currency amounted to 40.4 percent.
During the reporting period, loans in national currency increased by 194.1 million lari ($57.05 million), or 1.2 percent, to 16.81 billion lari. This change was mainly due to an increase in long-term lending to individuals.
Foreign currency loans fell $23.3 million in February, or 0.4 percent from a month earlier, to $6.51 billion at the end of the period. Some 61.5 percent of loans in this category are loans to legal entities, and 89.8 percent are long-term loans.
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