Emerging-market currencies tend to be written about in one of two modes: sales brochure or doomsday scenario. The lari deserves neither. Three years of rates show a currency that sits remarkably calm on average but draws its swings from politics rather than the business cycle — and that has recovered from each of them. Anyone holding money, paying rent or invoicing in Georgia should know this curve before thinking about interest rates.
The curve in numbers
| Year | Lari per US dollar | Lari per euro | Defining event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.62 (avg) | 2.84 (avg) | strong inflows, lari almost unchanged |
| 2024 | 2.72 (avg) | 2.94 (avg) | protests, election, slide to 2.88 in December |
| 2025 | 2.74 (avg) | 3.09 (avg) | recovery through the year, central bank buys $2.4 bn |
| 2026 | 2.62 – 2.74 (range) | 2.98 – 3.24 (range) | stabilisation at a firmer level |
The table tells two stories at once, and both are true.
Against the dollar, the lari has barely lost ground over three years: 2.62 on average in 2023, 2.62 in August 2026. In between sat a year of depreciation and a year of recovery that largely cancelled out.
Against the euro it looks different. From 2.84 to 3.12 lari per euro is roughly nine percent that a lari position has given up relative to euro-denominated wealth. The difference is not the lari’s doing but the dollar’s — the euro appreciated against the dollar over this period, and the lari effectively tracks the dollar more closely. For a euro-area investor, it is that second row that matters.
The year that shows where the risk sits
2024 is the case study. The lari did not weaken because the economy shrank — it kept growing. It weakened because politics turned the capital flows around:
- Spring 2024: protests against the foreign-agents law the central bank spent around USD 60 million in May supporting the currency
- October 2024: parliamentary election record intervention of USD 591 million, reserves at a 28-month low
- December 2024: EU accession talks suspended, clashes in Tbilisi the lari fell to 2.88 per dollar — its weakest since September 2022
- From October 2024: savers shifted deposits into foreign currency the shift amplified the depreciation — a self-reinforcing mechanism
- Full-year 2024: central bank a net seller of USD 435 m, reserves down USD 561 m the lari still lost roughly 4.4 percent year on year
- 2025: direction reversed — USD 2.4 bn net purchases, lari up 4.4 percent over the year monthly net purchases between USD 101.7 m in March and USD 361 m in December
The magnitude is worth noting: a depreciation of roughly ten percent within a few weeks, triggered by news rather than numbers. Anyone holding a lari term deposit at that moment watched a ten percent annual yield consumed by the exchange rate inside a month — and could not exit, because the money was locked.
What the central bank does — and what that means
Georgia has a floating exchange rate but not a passive central bank. The National Bank of Georgia intervenes on a price basis to dampen excessive volatility without defending a target level. The record of recent years shows both directions: net sales of USD 435 million in 2024 to support the currency, net purchases of USD 2.4 billion in 2025 to rebuild reserves, which reached USD 6.65 billion by February 2026.
Two things follow for you. First, there is an institution with both the means and a demonstrated willingness to smooth the swings — the 2025 recovery was no accident. Second, those means are finite and were visibly drawn down in 2024. Reserves of USD 6.65 billion are comfortable for a country this size, but they are not a guarantee.
The official rate used for settlement in Georgia arrives through a procedure with a practical side effect: the National Bank computes it from interbank trades between 16:30 the previous day and 16:30 the current one, publishes it by 17:00 — and it takes effect the following day. Settle an invoice at the official rate and you are always using yesterday’s. In quiet weeks that is a rounding error; in a week like early December 2024 it is a percent or more. Why this matters to practically every contract in Georgia is covered in priced in dollars, paid in lari.
The honest bottom line for a lari balance
Let us finish the calculation, because the numbers support it. Three years of a lari term deposit at roughly ten percent:
- In lari: 100 becomes about 133.
- Currency loss against the euro: around nine percent on the whole balance.
- Measured in euro: about 121 remains — a good twenty percent over three years, or roughly 6.6 percent a year.
- After German tax on the interest portion: considerably less, and on an interest-bearing account the currency gain would be taxable too — see taxing Georgian interest.
The result is positive, and it would be dishonest to hide that. It would be equally dishonest to turn it into an expectation: those three years contained a depreciation phase that ended mildly because the central bank had reserves and the political situation did not escalate further. The carry carried the currency move — it might not have.
Current rates at all thirteen banks are in deposit rates in Georgia. And for anyone planning to relocate anyway, the whole question dissolves: earn in lari and spend in lari and you have no currency risk, only inflation — see moving to Georgia.
Frequently asked questions
How stable is the Georgian lari?
Stable on average, restless in detail. Against the dollar the annual average was around 2.62 lari in 2023, 2.72 in 2024 and 2.74 in 2025; in August 2026 a dollar cost 2.62 lari. Within that range, though, came politically driven swings: in early December 2024 the lari fell to 2.88 per dollar — its weakest level since September 2022.
How has the lari performed against the euro?
Worse than against the dollar. The euro averaged around 2.84 lari in 2023, 2.94 in 2024 and 3.09 in 2025; the 2026 average was roughly 3.12. Anyone holding lari across those three years lost about nine percent against the euro — before a single interest credit.
Why did the lari weaken in late 2024?
For political rather than economic reasons. The spring protests against the foreign-agents law, the October parliamentary election and the suspension of EU accession talks in early December each triggered outflows. The National Bank supported the currency with interventions, including a record USD 591 million in October 2024 alone; across the full year it sold a net USD 435 million more than it bought.
Has the lari recovered?
Yes, markedly. The direction reversed in 2025 — the National Bank bought a net USD 2.4 billion in the market instead of selling, and the lari gained roughly 4.4 percent against the dollar over the year. By February 2026 international reserves had risen to USD 6.65 billion.
Is a lari balance worth it despite the currency risk?
Over the past three years, arithmetically yes. Roughly ten percent interest a year over three years compounds to about 33 percent in lari; a currency loss of around nine percent against the euro still leaves a good twenty percent. That is a result from the past rather than a promise for the future, and it says nothing about how the risk was distributed within those three years.
What mainly drives the lari's exchange rate?
Capital inflows and political stability. Georgia has a floating rate and a heavily dollarised banking system in which roughly half of deposits are held in foreign currency. When sentiment shifts, savers move into dollars and euros quickly — exactly what happened from October 2024 onwards, accelerating the depreciation.
How is the official rate set?
The National Bank calculates the dollar rate as the weighted average of registered spot trades on the interbank market between 16:30 on the previous business day and 16:30 on the current one, and publishes it by 17:00. It takes effect the following day. Settle at the official rate and you are always settling at yesterday's.
This article is general information and does not constitute investment or tax advice. All rates are annual averages or ranges drawn from publicly available market data and serve as orientation, not as a basis for settlement; the official rate of the National Bank of Georgia on the relevant date always governs. Past exchange-rate behaviour implies nothing about future behaviour. Foreign-currency deposits carry exchange-rate risk up to and including loss of capital. Last updated August 2026.