The single-party parliament, at a session of the Finance and Budget Committee listened to the candidates nominated by the GD's president Mikheil Kavelashvili, for four vacant positions on the National Bank of Georgia's board.
The committee unanimously approved all four candidates. One of them is former Minister of Agriculture Otar Shamugia, who told the committee that the national currency is not at risk of fluctuating at this point. The National Bank's actions regarding the exchange rate are moderate, stable and correct.
"We have seen over the years that inflation is low. There are certain fluctuations in the GEL exchange rate, but this is not due to fundamental factors. This is largely due to expectations. So, in my opinion, the National Bank is acting moderately, stably and correctly and is not making rigid interventions in this process. Because it sees that these processes are not caused by fundamental factors, but by specific shocks and unstable situations, which subsequently calm down. We have seen this process often recently and we see that the GEL subsequently returns to its old level.
At this stage, we do not see any such challenges in the economy in this regard, based on the processes taking place in the economy. However, I will repeat that many factors affect this, and not only the processes taking place within the country. Given the current reality, there is no threat to the stability of the GEL," Shamugia said.
Vakhtang Burkiashvili, Otar Shamugia, Levan Dzneladze, Nino Jeladze - Mikheil Kavelashvili presented 4 candidates for NBG Board membership to the Parliament.
Currently, Natia Turnavat is the Acting Governor and First Vice-President of the NBG. In November 2023, the National Bank elected two executive members of the board. Ekaterine Mikabadze and Ekaterine Galdava took the positions of Vice-Presidents of the NBG. Teimuraz Khomeriki and Nana Keinishvili are non-executive members of the board.
In September 2023, in protest against the exceptional order issued by the acting governor of the National Bank of Georgia, Natia Turnava, regarding the implementation of international sanctions, three vice presidents of the National Bank, Archil Mestvirishvili, Papuna Lezhava, and Nikoloz Gagua, resigned from their positions.
Georgian parliament rejected President Salome Zourabishvili’s nominees for the vacant positions as members of the Board of the National Bank (NBG), Dimitri Japaridze and Giorgi Bakradze in late 2023.
