“Our country’s financial sector is a worthy contributor to macroeconomic stability, while macroeconomic stability itself significantly supports the sector’s resilience, its ability to withstand various shocks, and its sustainable development,” said Natia Turnava, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia, during a panel discussion held as part of the Georgian Business Association’s conference.

The conference, entitled “Overview of Georgia’s Economy: Macroeconomic and Sectoral Perspectives”, was opened with remarks by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

As Natia Turnava noted in her address at the panel discussion on “Macroeconomic and Sectoral Perspectives”, the financial sector has withstood many shocks, and over the past 30 years there has not been a single case of deposit loss.

“According to current data, the banking sector is well capitalized and maintains sound liquidity indicators. Credit activity is proportional to the growth of the nominal economy. The ratio of loans to GDP is gradually approaching its long-term trend in line with the normalization of economic activity. It is also noteworthy that the banking sector demonstrates solid profitability indicators and high asset quality. Loan growth remains healthy at almost 15% with business loans accounting for the largest share. As for the share of non-performing loans, it remains at a historically low level of 2.6%,” noted Natia Turnava.

The Governor of the National Bank of Georgia also spoke about the technological development of the banking sector, emphasizing that it is making significant progress in this direction.

“We are observing the competitiveness and regional expansion of Georgian banks, which we welcome and believe will create additional opportunities for our businesses. To support fintech, we are implementing a number of initiatives and are already seeing tangible results. We have introduced the niche of digital banks and microbanks to the market, we already have licensed players, and we expect this will substantially improve both the competitive environment and access to finance for the economy,” said Natia Turnava.

According to Turnava, Georgia’s financial sector has become regional in scope, attracting the interest of representatives from various countries, including Kazakhstan, Singapore, and China, in the Georgian market.