Natia Turnava, Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, and Vice Governor Archil Mestvirishvili, took part in the 30th anniversary event of the dram, national currency of Armenia. The high-level symposium was organized by the Central Bank of Armenia and the Bretton Woods Committee in Dilijan. Central banks of the Caucasus and Central Asia region, as well as representatives of the government, financial sector, academic and scientific community, attended the symposium.

Natia Turnava was pleased to share with the participants of the symposium the experience of Georgia in the development of the monetary policy framework. She also spoke about the challenges of the high-inflationary environment and the actions taken to reduce dollarization.

"The experience of recent years has shown that inflation targeting and a floating exchange rate are the best practices for dealing with unprecedented economic shocks such as the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For comparison, inflation in Georgia was almost 14% last summer, now it is gradually decreasing and was only 0.3% in July in 2023. The annual inflation rate will gradually approach the 3% target, showing that the NBG’s monetary policy and communication is effective," Natia Turnava noted.

The participants of the event discussed future prospects of the digital currency and the progress of the digitalization process. The discussion also concerned new economic challenges, such as climate change, war-related migration and excess capital inflows, and the role of central banks in minimizing these risks.

During her visit, acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia held introductory meetings with the governors of the Central Banks of Armenia and Uzbekistan. The parties talked about the prospects of expanding their cooperation.