The National Bank supplies the banking system with the amount of lari liquidity for which there is demand within the system. The decline in the volume of refinancing loans is largely linked to an increase in lari liquidity in the banking system as a result of foreign exchange interventions, the National Bank told Interpressnews, responding to a statement by opposition politician Roman Gotsiridze, who said that “commercial banks do not want the National Bank’s money, and the amount of money borrowed by commercial banks from the National Bank has fallen to GEL 300 million, which is an anomalous development.”

The National Bank also stated that the lari liquidity required by the banking system can be supplied through various channels, while refinancing loans are one of the instruments used to balance this supply.

“The banking system receives the necessary lari liquidity during the process of accumulating international reserves.

“The National Bank supplies the banking system with the amount of lari liquidity for which there is demand within the system, so that short-term interest rates are formed close to the refinancing rate, the main instrument of monetary policy. It is also important to note that the lari liquidity required by the banking system can be supplied through various channels, while refinancing loans are one of the instruments used to balance this supply.

“The decline in the volume of refinancing loans is largely linked to an increase in lari liquidity in the banking system as a result of foreign exchange interventions. Specifically, in 2025, the National Bank purchased a total of USD 2,432.5 million, as a result of which GEL 6,617.6 million in liquidity was supplied to the banking system. As of May 2026, the volume of foreign currency purchased amounted to USD 1,465.8 million, which means an additional GEL 3,936.4 million supplied to the banking system.

“As a result, the banking system receives the necessary liquidity during the process of accumulating international reserves. The fundamental condition of Georgia’s economy is strong, as confirmed by both the country’s economic indicators and assessments by international organizations. Against the backdrop of strong economic fundamentals and favorable conditions in the foreign exchange market, the National Bank is carrying out foreign exchange interventions and increasing the country’s international reserves.

“International reserves are one of the important guarantees of a country’s macroeconomic stability. The growth of reserves and improvement in their adequacy were also important factors in the assessments by international credit rating agencies and their decision to improve the outlook for the country’s credit rating to ‘stable.’

“As of June 2026, the volume of international reserves reached a historic high of USD 7,122.9 million. At the same time, the volume of international reserves exceeds the 100% threshold of the International Monetary Fund’s Assessing Reserve Adequacy (ARA) metric and stands at 112.3%,” the National Bank said in a statement.

For reference, Roman Gotsiridze said that on December 31, commercial banks had borrowed GEL 4.2 billion from the National Bank, while the figure has now fallen to around GEL 300 million, which he described as an anomalous development. According to him, the volume of so-called refinancing loans has declined 13-fold in six months.