NBG Governor Koba Gvenetadze chaired the 2022 CAREC Economic and Financial Stability Cluster High Level Policy Dialogue, organized by the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC).

 

The event opened with a keynote by NBG Governor and encompassed the underlying challenges in the CAREC countries. Koba Gvenetadze noted that due to the macroprudential measures taken by the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) before the pandemic and the financial stability policy implemented since the start of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, the financial sector remains resilient and continues smooth lending to the economy. Koba Gvenetadze pinpointed the challenges of financial stability prompted globally by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

"In the background of successive shocks in recent years, ensuring price stability has become a global challenge. The international financial sanctions imposed by the US, EU and UK on the Russian Federation and Belarus create additional challenges for the financial sector. The main challenge that Georgia faces, in particular, is the complexity of sanctions that require important resources from financial institutions. Compliance with international sanctions requires detailed and thorough monitoring of transactions, which results in delays of transactions. However, this represents a challenge not only for Georgia, but also for the financial sector of all those countries that adhere to the requirements of sanctions. In order to ensure financial stability and tackle all the challenges, the National Bank of Georgia has promptly taken relevant measures and instructed representatives of the financial sector to comply with all obligations envisaged under the international sanctions regimes. Moreover, NBG, as a supervisory body, ensures compliance with all standards by providing consultancy and clarification of particular sanctions/obligations, when needed”, said Koba Gvenetadze.

 

 

"The US State Department published the Investment Climate Statements: Georgia report in July 2022 and gave positive assessment to the work of the NBG. “The NBG and Georgian financial institutions act fully in accordance with the financial sanctions imposed by the United States and others on the Russian Federation. Compliance with international financial sanctions is systematically checked during the onsite inspections of financial institutions”, says the report. "These assessments and the awards the NBG has received recently are especially important in the face of post-pandemic and geopolitical challenges, as they reaffirm the accuracy of the policy pursued by the National Bank of Georgia. This undoubtedly is the merit of the team of the NBG professionals", - said Koba Gvenetadze.

 

The participants had an in-depth discussion of the inflation rising globally, which has a negative impact on the economies of the countries. The conversation also covered geopolitical events that affect supply chains.

 

The event was attended by representatives of the financial sector, Ministries of Finance, Central Banks, financial regulatory authorities and private sector of the CAREC member countries.