Press Digest 23.01.2015
GEL value is alarmingly low; inflation may soon hit Georgia hard
“I know the witness late Vazagashvili mentioned”
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GEL value is alarmingly low; inflation may soon hit Georgia hard
"The value of Georgia’s national currency has already hit rock bottom against the dollar. Since April 30, 2014, the GEL has never been so alarmingly low.
In our country, a drop in the value of GEL automatically results in a higher cost of living, and this obviously prompts a massive public outcry.
Allegedly, if the value of GEL drops even further, inflation will soon hit Georgia hard,”- reports the Rezonansi paper.
The cost of everyday products as well as medications is already too high. The devaluation of lari instantly resulted in more costly imported products. The cost of flour, for instance, has already alarmingly risen to the point that one bag costs 40 GEL today.
Word has it that product prices will ratchet up in our supermarkets as well. Allegedly, imported goods will be the first to start getting more expensive.
One supermarket Manager at Guramishvili AVE, economist Mikhel Dondua holds the National Bank accountable for the rapid GEL depreciation. According to him, the bank has withdrawn 235 million USD from Georgia’s economy and this instantly caused an imbalance between the GEL and the USD,”- says the article.
As former vice-President of the National Bank Merab Kakulia maintains, we must look at this issue from a broader perspective. According to him, along with other factors, the value of lari is determined by foreign trade. Plus, in his words, remittances from different countries and especially from Russia have recently reduced. Allegedly, foreign investors have also lost interest in our country and all these factors have resulted in a cash deficit in Georgia.
If we believe the former vice-President, the National Bank should intervene only if this intervention can produce tangible results. Otherwise, all its efforts to rectify the situation will be futile.
“The National Bank can only improve the situation, not resolve the problem; clearly though, this does not mean that it should distance itself from the country’s ongoing developments. Its leadership must obviously communicate with people and always keep them in the loop,”- declares Merab Kakulia.
“I know the witness late Vazagashvili mentioned”
“Will Yuri Vazagashvili’s case be solved or will it sink into oblivion like Zurab Jvania’s case? This question has become immensely acute recently.
MP Zakaria Kutsnashvili’s statement that he can name the witness Mr. Vazagashvili had repeatedly mentioned has sparked a countrywide backlash,”- reports the Alia newspaper.
“I know the witness late Vazagashvili talked about; moreover, I know his whereabouts as well as the information he holds but for now I will hold back from naming him to keep the investigation running smoothly.
However, one thing I can tell you is that On January 18, Mr. Vazagashvili was at my grandmother’s funeral; there, we talked about his prime witness. Clearly though, I will put this person’s life at risk by naming the country he is now in,”- declared Zakaria Kutsnashvili.
The public has legitimate questions to which they need answers as soon as possible. Why, for instance, did they barley follow through with Zurab Zhvania’s case when Mr. Vazagashvili never avoided cooperating with the Chief Prosecutor’s Office? We would also like to learn the names of those high officials who were exposed by Yuri Vazagashvili and yet still hold high posts in law enforcement agencies. Reports fly that precisely these people stonewalled the investigation and threw our investigators off the scent,”- maintains the MP.
The Alia paper also contacted former Chief Prosecutor Archil Kbilashvili to obtain new details regarding Vazagashvili’s case.
“I am not a prosecutor and I am not entitled to make statements about this issue. I have some information; however, I cannot provide any details,”- stated the former prosecutor.
