The National Bank’s [NBG] purchase of about USD 1.7 billion over the past year and a half had not prevented the national currency GEL from historic strengthening. Such a statement made today David Utiashvili, the Head of Financial Stability Department at NBG.

“Maintaining international reserves at an adequate level was one of the main prerequisites for the macroeconomic stability of the central bank and the confidence of investors. The NBG had a policy of accumulating reserves through interventions, which was also recommended by the International Monetary Fund.

Buying based on currency rule is considered the most efficient way to do this, and has the least impact on market dynamics. Over the last year and a half, approximately USD 1.7 billion was purchased, but it did not prevent the historic strengthening of the real exchange rate. Temporary fluctuations are mostly caused by one-time factors.

When the annual turnover of the foreign exchange market reached USD 100 billion, the impact of NBG’s currency rule interventions could not be material. However, the exchange rate is still determined by fundamental factors, and information on them is available with a greater delay than on interventions.

The NBG was one of the most transparent organizations and stood out among comparable central banks with the quality of transparency”, - said David Utiashvili.