Press Digest 27.01.2015
Lari hits rock bottom - - Further devaluation of GEL is not expected
Location for NATO-Georgia joint training center is chosen
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Lari hits rock bottom - - Further devaluation of GEL is not expected
“Yesterday, the value of GEL dropped again. Specialists blame the National Bank while people think the government must assume responsibility for such an extreme devaluation of our national currency
According to a survey done by the Rezonansi publication, Georgia’s week economy and our government’s irrational policy caused the GEL’s rapid depreciation,”- reports the Rezonansi paper.
At the end of December, the GEL depreciated again. On the 31st of December, 2014, $1 equaled 1.8636 GEL, While on January 26, it was $1 to 1.9962 GEL. In a year, the GEL devalued by 12.6 percent,”- says the article.
However, our MPs seem optimistic about the future. Allegedly, further depreciation of GEL is not expected. Even more, as our finance and economic ministers claim, our national currency will soon stabilize again; however, according to our chief banker, the lari can be strengthened only if we push our economy forward,”- writes the author of the article.
As the opinion poll has it, 38.6% of our people name Georgia’s week economy as the cause of GEL devaluation, 34.6 percent thinks that the government’s irrational policy has led us to this dead-end situation, while 15.3 percent links the devaluation of GEL to an unusual strengthening of the U.S. Dollar.
According to our Minister of Economy Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the value of GEL will eventually become stable. As he claims, the government has already outlined a well-thought out plan to increase exports as well as imports and attract foreign investors.
As Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri maintains, his Ministry and the National Bank are coordinating smoothly and spare no effort to make the GEL a stable currency.
“Our top priority is to avoid the lari’s exchange rate greatly affecting prices on domestic goods; expectations of inflation have increased, but there has been no drastic increase on such prices yet,”- declared President of National Bank, Giorgi Kadagidze.
Although when we took interested in whether the GEL was likely to strengthen in the future, the President gave us an open ended response.
In his words, the lari stands a chance of becoming stable only if we move forward with our economic development policy,”- concludes the author of the article.
Location for NATO-Georgia joint training center is chosen
“According to Irakli Sesiashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament’s Defense and Security Committee, a location for the NATO-Georgia joint training center has already been selected. However, this topic is classified and no additional details are available,”- reports the publication Rezonansi.
Expert Soso Tsiskarishvili has given a positive evaluation to Vershbow’s visit to Georgia. “The western leaders as well as our authorities have made many statements; however, no effective steps to achieve our plans have been taken yet. The Deputy Secretary General’s visit to Georgia serves precisely this purpose; if we want to move forward with our plans, we must obviously take steps. In addition, Georgia has committed itself to cooperating with NATO; as you know, we voluntarily participate in NATO-led military missions.
Under any circumstances, Vershbow’s visit will help us to broaden relations with NATO and move forward,”- announced Soso Tsiskarishvili.
As Foreign Ministry Press-Speaker Davit Kereselidze states, within the framework of his visit, NATO Deputy Secretary General will inspect the location where the joint military center is planned to be constructed.
“Alexander Verhbshow will also deliver a public lecture regarding an Atlantic Council of Georgia event,”- declared the press speaker.
As expert Korneli Kakachia feels, giving Vershbow the status of a VIP guest is a bit over the top.
“Considering that he often visits Georgia, I cannot define his visit as something special. I find it difficult to predict which issues the two sides will discuss; however, the NATO Military Training Center is most likely to be one of the key topics of these discussions,”- stated the expert.
