The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) bought USD 40 million at a foreign currency auction on June 8 as lari (GEL) continued strengthening against U.S. dollar.
GEL was trading at 2.1282 per U.S. dollar as of late Wednesday afternoon, 11.5% stronger than in the beginning of this year and 7.3% stronger compared to a year earlier.
Total of USD 235 million was bought by the central bank in 12 interventions on the purchasing side since mid-March.
GEL started depreciation in November 2014, weakening from about 1.75 per U.S. dollar to its all-time low of 2.4985 by late January, 2016.
Amid lari’s depreciation, the central bank made three interventions in January by selling total of USD 60 million.
Total of USD 286.96 million was sold in nine separate interventions throughout 2015 to support GEL.
Gross international reserves stood at USD 2.569 billion as of end-May 2016, up from USD 2.456 billion a month earlier, and up from USD 2.393 billion a year earlier.
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