According to the National Bank’s central forecast, as expected, overall inflation has begun to normalize. As of December, annual inflation stood at 4.0%, while compared to the previous month it decreased by 0.2%, said Tamta Sopromadze, Head of the Macroeconomics and Statistics Department of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

She noted that what is most important is that indicators of long-term inflation expectations remain below the target level of 3%.

“For example, core inflation, which excludes food, energy resources, and cigarette prices from overall inflation, stood at around 1.6% in December. Service inflation, which best reflects long-term inflation expectations, also remains below the 3% target and amounts to 2.5%,” Sopromadze said.

According to her, the National Bank publishes macroeconomic forecast scenarios, and the central forecast - which serves as the main guideline for decision-making - envisaged that inflation would begin to normalize gradually from the end of the year.

“Our expectation is that average inflation in 2026 will be 3.5%,” Tamta Sopromadze added, as quoted by the National Bank.