Koba Gvenetadze, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, participated in a conference Two Sides of the Coin: the Currency Debate, organized by the European Fund for South East Europe (EFSE) and the Green for Growth Fund (GGF) On October 22.

 

An engaging discussion was held between Governor Gvenetadze and Alex Aleksishvili, the Executive Director of the Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG). The session was moderated by Danae Kyriakopoulou, an economic expert and a Senior Policy Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

 

Governor Gvenetadze pinpointed the importance of de-dollarization and the successful results of the NBG reforms during the debate, noting that de-dollarization will contribute to the growth of the national economy in the long run.

 

“De-dollarization measures are means to an end of long-term sustainable economic growth. Private sector has a lead role in this. However, it needs an institutional setup that makes the private sector most efficient. In terms of the central bank, that’s the main idea behind mandating price stability to the NBG, supporting both these objectives by caring about de-dollarization. Stable macro-financial environment, that necessarily involves lower dollarization, helps the private sector focus on its main task – economic growth,” Governor Gvenetadze noted.

 

The cooperation between the National Bank of Georgia and EFSE started in 2010. The Fund provides technical assistance to the National Bank of Georgia. Various projects have been implemented jointly, mainly to raise the level of financial education for employees of local farms and enterprises.