On October 5, Shalva Mkhatrishvili, Head of the Macroeconomics and Statistics Department of the National Bank of Georgia, participated in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seminar. The event was organized by the IMF’s Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC). These seminars serve to discuss research and analytical work by CCAMTAC member countries and IMF representatives.

 

 

Shalva Mkhatrishvili presented a research paper by the National Bank at the seminar. The paper analyzes the impact of sterilized foreign exchange interventions on interest rates on GEL loans. The speaker pinpointed the importance of having a sufficiently broad collateral base to minimize liquidity risk in the financial sector. Altinay Aidarova, IMF CCAMTAC Advisor on Monetary and Foreign Exchange Operations, was a paper discussant. Selim Cakir, IMF Resident Representative in Georgia, moderated the seminar.

 

Further on the topic, the IMF Department of Monetary and Capital Markets and CCAMTAC organized a virtual conference: Dollarization in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia on September 21. Shalva Mkhatrishvili highlighted the external effects of dollarization at the event that calls for vigorous de-dollarization policy, and discussed Georgia's experience in this area.