The President of the National Bank of Georgia, Natia Turnava, says the central bank is introducing an instant payment system aimed at making transactions faster, more convenient and cheaper.
Turnava made the remarks at a plenary session of Parliament, where she presented the National Bank’s annual report.
“In order to make transactions more widespread, more convenient and faster, we have implemented several infrastructure projects, including the introduction of an instant payment system, which will reduce the cost of transfers,” Turnava said.
She made the comments in response to a question from Malkhaz Toria, an MP from the opposition ‘Gakharia for Georgia’ party, who asked whether Georgia’s economic growth is sustainable and what risks the country could face if regional political developments disrupt financial inflows.
Turnava said she does not see any threat of international transactions being interrupted.
“We do not see any threat that international transactions will cease. We have such a business model that we are open to bilateral and multilateral trade relations. Investments are growing, other types of inflows are growing,” Turnava said.
She added that growing foreign exchange inflows have enabled the National Bank to increase reserves despite external shocks.
“We are improving the internal payment infrastructure as much as possible so that transactions are not only growing, but also more comfortable, faster. For this, we have implemented several infrastructure projects and also an instant payment system is being introduced, which will also affect the prices of transfers, in the sense that it will make them cheaper,” Turnava said.
