Natia Turnava: Georgia’s international reserves hit a record high of USD 8.25bn after heavy central bank buying

“The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) recorded net foreign currency purchases of USD 3.37 billion during the first nine months of 2026, already surpassing its total interventions for the whole of 2025,” NBG Governor Natia Turnava announced on Monday.

Presenting the draft Main Directions of Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy for 2027–2029 to Parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee, Turnava stated that favourable foreign exchange market conditions enabled the bank to build up its buffer.

Building on USD 2.4bn of net foreign currency purchases in 2025, the central bank bought a further USD 3.37bn in the first nine months of 2026, driving international reserves to an all-time high of USD 8.25bn. This brought the country’s IMF Assessing Reserve Adequacy (ARA) metric to 130 per cent.

Turnava stressed that international reserves are a critical pillar of Georgia’s macroeconomic stability and resilience against external shocks, confirming the central bank will maintain its consistent policy of replenishment and active management.

“To enhance reserve management and asset diversification, the National Bank introduced monetary gold to its reserve assets in 2024. Under this strategy, the bank purchased an additional USD 500 million worth of monetary gold in 2026. As of October, our gold holdings stood at USD 1.365 billion, representing 16.6 per cent of total gross reserves,” Turnava explained.

The NBG has also broadened its currency allocation, adding British pounds sterling while expanding its holdings in euros and Chinese yuan. Turnava noted that increasing gold reserves and diversifying foreign currency holdings protects the nation’s reserve assets against global inflationary risks while preserving their long-term purchasing power.