High-level international consultants have joined the team of the National Bank of Georgia in the capacity of advisers to the Acting Governor, invited to work on developing financial markets, implementing current and planned reforms in accordance with international standards, and strengthening work in certain areas.

Douglas Laxton, David Vavra and Martial Nicolas Smets will advise the NBG on areas such as macroeconomic and monetary policies, development of financial markets, fight against financial crime, enforcement of international financial sanctions and more.

It should be noted that some of them have experience of working with the NBG in the development of various projects in the past.

Douglas Laxton, the world"s leading economist, held senior positions at the International Monetary Fund and the Canadian Central Bank at different times. Laxton’s work focuses on macroeconomics, monetary policy, fiscal policy and inflation targeting. Douglas Laxton has been cooperating with the National Bank of Georgia for many years. It was with his active involvement and consultation that the Forecasting and Policy Analysis System (FPAS) was developed.

David Vavra, a world-class economist, will be working at the NBG in the area of the financial markets development. At different times, David Vavra has worked at the IMF, the Czech, Ukrainian and Serbian central banks, and was an advisor to the Governor of the Czech Central Bank on macroeconomic modeling and forecasting. David Vavra has experience working with the NBG in the past. He worked on the macroeconomic modeling and forecasts improvement project supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction (EBRD).

Martial Nicolas Smets, an international expert, has 27 years of experience in combating money laundering across the world. He was the group head of the Anti-Financial Crimes Group, as well as the chairman of the Russian Sanctions Business Committee and Iran Business Committee for the UniCredit Group. Martial Nicolas Smets has been working on the framework document for the enforcement of international financial sanctions in the Caucasus and Central Asia region since 2022. He will advise the NBG on the issues of enforcement of sanctions and fight against financial crime.

Natia Turnava, Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, believes that the competence and many years of experience of international consultants will make the team of professionals at the NBG even stronger: “All 3 of them are high-ranking international experts. I am convinced that their experience will greatly support the work of the NBG and help implement current and future projects. Capitalizing on the best international experience of the consultants, we will further improve our work in various areas and introduce high standards. I believe their competence will make sure the Bank operates in accordance with the best standards”.