NBG Denies Seeking SWIFT Alternative After Meeting With Chinese Payment System Head
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) denied claims that it is seeking a SWIFT global payment network replacement after its top official met with the president of China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS).
In a July 18 statement, the NBG called such claims a “complete disinformation,” clarifying that “CIPS is primarily focused on Chinese yuan transfers, while SWIFT covers multiple currencies.” It added, “We consider CIPS as an additional payment method – a regional diversification mechanism – and not a replacement for SWIFT.” The NBG said that “more than 4,900 financial institutions from 189 countries,” many of which also use SWIFT, are involved in the CIPS network.
The statement came in response to criticism from former NBG president Roman Gotsiridze, who said the meeting signaled that Georgia is “deepening relations with Russia and China not only through political-economic, but also financial fields.” Gotsiridze described CIPS as a “SWIFT alternative” designed to help “authoritarian regimes evade sanctions.”
The possibility of Georgia being disconnected from the SWIFT was raised in the European Parliament’s July 9 resolution, which urged EU member states to consider “further restrictive measures” against the Georgian Dream government, “aimed at cutting off financial flows and sources of income of the Georgian Dream regime.”
During the meeting in Tbilisi between NBG President Natia Turnava and CIPS President Fu Huang, “the sides discussed opportunities for cooperation and ways to facilitate access for Georgian financial institutions to the CIPS global network,” the NBG said on July 17.
“One of the goals of the comprehensive memorandum signed with the People’s Bank of China is to simplify transactions and increase accessibility between the financial systems of the two countries, which will support our trade, and trade is quite important between the two countries,” Turnava said following the meeting.
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