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Commercial banks weather storm

By M. Alkhazashvili
Friday, August 22
From August 18 onwards commercial banks in Georgia have returned to working as usual, carrying out all the usual bank operations and transactions and issuing loans.

The Georgian banking system, pride of the economy, proved itself to be stable and solid during the most critical days for the country. For only one day, August 12, did the banks stop working. The very next day everything was back to normal.

During the first days of the occupation people panicked and started withdrawing money from their accounts but very soon the situation stabilized. The National Bank of Georgia managed to maintain the previous fixed exchange rate for the GEL. When the demand for USD increased the NBG made immediate moves and introduced extra dollars to stabilize the market.

NBG states that there is no danger of the collapse of the banking system in Georgia, as the country retains confidence in it.