“It is very important for us to replenish reserves, but we continuously monitor the market situation,” said Natia Turnava, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia.

“Currently, inflows are strong. According to May data, the main sources of inflow are exports and remittances,” she said.

Turnava noted that remittances grew by approximately 12%, and exports increased by 15.7%. She emphasized the importance of growth in local exports, which rose by more than 10%.

“This is significant because re-exports also make up a large portion of total exports. However, the growth of local exports is a key indicator for us, and the trend remains strong. These two channels—exports and remittances—were the main contributors during the spring-summer period,” she explained.

NBG Governor also pointed to continued larization, especially among legal entities.

“If someone held excessive dollars during the period of uncertainty, they are now converting them. This trend is helping stabilize the currency,” she declared.

Turnava added that in addition to the National Bank’s interventions, overall macroeconomic stability contributed to calm during the recent period of uncertainty.

“The uncertainty was short-lived. Our interventions helped, but broader economic stability also played a role. As a result, the lari has remained stable. De-dollarization is ongoing, and the share of lari-denominated deposits has increased by about 1.2%. We’re approaching a 50/50 split, compared to 75% dollarization 15 years ago. The recent trends show our approach is working—confidence in the lari is rising, and larization is increasing. This, in turn, contributes to dollar supply in the market, which we are leveraging,” Turnava stated.

She also highlighted that while reserves are being replenished, they are also regularly used, for instance, to service external debt.

“Our goal is to ensure that reserve accumulation remains positive and on an upward trajectory. Interestingly, during this period, the National Bank was able to build reserves even as commercial banks purchased dollars for dividend payouts. Normally, such periods would require the Bank to supply dollars to prevent volatility, but this time the market absorbed the purchases smoothly. The dividend payouts happened without disrupting the market, and we continued our reserve accumulation without interruption,” Turnava concluded.