The National Bank of Georgia has increased its key refinancing rate to 8.25%, a move that will raise monthly payments for 252,029 borrowers with variable-rate loans.
The non-governmental organization “Society and Banks” says that most of these loans are linked to the refinancing rate. The central bank says the change will directly affect repayments for all borrowers with such contracts.
Of the total, 80% are mortgage and consumer loans, 19% belong to small and medium-sized businesses, and 1% are loans to large companies.
In total, variable-rate loans amount to ₾19.9 billion. This includes ₾3.9 billion in mortgages, ₾6.2 billion in consumer loans, ₾6.3 billion for SMEs, and ₾3.4 billion for large businesses.
The average loan size varies significantly, from ₾43,587 for consumer loans to over ₾1.5 million for large corporate loans.
The NBG says inflation reached 5.9% in April, the highest level in two years, driven by rising energy and transport costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
The central bank says the rate hike is a “necessary preventive step” to contain inflation, adding that further increases are not excluded if price growth does not slow.
The refinancing rate has been raised for the first time since May 2024.
