Total Assets of Georgian Commercial Banks Amount to GEL 39.4 Bln

The banking sector in Georgia is represented by 15 commercial banks, including 14 foreign-controlled banks, as of April 1, 2019.

In March 2019, compared to the previous month, the total assets of Georgian commercial banks increased by 464.7 million GEL (1.2%) and constituted GEL 39.4 billion. The banking sector’s own funds (equity capital) equal GEL 5.3 billion, which makes up 13.4% of the commercial banks’ total assets.

The information was released by the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) on April 25. The NBG says that the total volume of non-bank deposits in the country's banking sector increased by 0.9 % or by GEL 209.4 million compared to March 1, and constituted GEL 23.1 billion by April 1.

The regulator reports that in March, the volume of term deposits decreased by GEL 157.4 million and demand deposits increased by GEL 366.8 million (2.8%).

“The Larization ratio of total non-bank deposits constituted 38.15% by April 1, and increased by 0.48 percentage points compared to March 1,” the statement of the national bank reads.

In addition, the NBG says the annual average weighted interest rate on term deposits constituted 5.6%. In particular, the interest rate for national currency denominated deposits was 7.3 % and the interest rate for foreign currency denominated deposits 2.7 %.

Further, the share of the US dollar in the total volume of foreign currency denominated deposits equals 84.2% and the share of the Euro equals 14.3%.

The national bank also informs that the volume of lending by commercial banks in March increased by GEL 316.7 million or by 1.2% compared to the previous month and constituted GEL 26.8 billion by April 1. The volume of loans in the national currency increased by GEL 226.8 million and the volume of loans in foreign currency increased by GEL 89.9 million in the same period.

Furthermore, by the end of March, the total volume of national currency denominated loans issued by commercial banks amounted to GEL 3.5 billion and foreign currency denominated loans to resident legal entities constituted GEL 8.5 billion.

The national bank added that during March, the volume of lending to resident individuals increased by 0.5 % or GEL 68.7 million, and constituted GEL 14.1 billion by April 1, 2019.

“The Larization ratio for total loans constituted 43.29% by April 1 and increased by 0.34% points compared to March 1,” the NBG said.

By Thea Morrison

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