"The economy is coping with adverse effects of the pandemic, and the donor support has been crucial in this regard," Koba Gvenetadze, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia said at the IMF Mission press briefing today.  James John, Head of the IMF Mission, presented the Mission findings in the framework of the Article IV Consultations and assessed the current state of the Georgian economy, as the Georgian Ministers of Finance and Economy were in attendance. According to the IMF mission, the inflation targeting framework and the floating exchange rate regime have helped Georgia respond to the COVID-19 shock as they remain sensible and appropriate mechanisms. The NBG's prudent supervisory approach in the pre-COVID-19 period and subsequent pivotal steps supported resilience of the financial sector.

Governor Gvenetadze summarized the harmful consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic that particularly affected the tourism sector and had significant impact on the Georgian economy. He noted that despite the high dependence on tourism, the recent data showed positive signs.

"The economy is coping with adverse effects of the pandemic, and the donor support has been crucial in this regard. Following the decline in the first quarter, preliminary figures show significant increase in economic activity since April. Today's forecast anticipates this year to surpass the 2019 level,"- Governor Gvenetadze stated.

Further in his speech, Koba Gvenetadze spoke about the post-pandemic recovery actions planned by the National Bank. "It is crucial in the post-pandemic recovery that we pursue a sound and far-sighted macroeconomic policy. That entails consistency in implementing the inflation targeting framework and the floating exchange rate regime, proven to have helped the economy to navigate the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the underlying circumstances, we will continue foreign exchange intervention aimed at preventing disorderly market conditions," Koba Gvenetadze said.

Governor Gvenetadze added that the National Bank would remain committed to prudent supervisory approaches in future, as these safeguarded the stability of the financial system even in the face of this unprecedented shock.

"We are pleased that the mission was unequivocally affirmative about the NBG-led monetary policy, and underscored that our actions consistently remained adequate to the situation. The financial sector played a decisive role in encouraging economic activity during the crisis. It is less likely that the system would have coped with the shock of the pandemic without the NBG's consistent and far-sighted supervision in place. As evidenced by the recently completed FSAP Mission stress tests, the banking system remains safeguarded with the required level of capital and liquidity," Koba Gvenetadze said.

Mustafa Saiyid, Head of IMF FSAP Mission, also participated in today's briefing.