Georgia’s total international reserves reached a record $7.53 billion at the end of July 2026, climbing roughly 50% from a year earlier and rising $404.6 million from June, the National Bank of Georgia said.
The jump lifts the IMF’s Assessing Reserve Adequacy metric to 118.7% and reflects both heavy net foreign-currency purchases and a gold position whose value has climbed sharply since the central bank’s first buy in 2024.
The dual contribution matters. Dollar buying lifted the stock through sheer volume. Gold added both new bars and mark-to-market gains on earlier holdings. Together they pushed the headline total to an all-time high while raising the adequacy score above the conventional 100% floor used for emerging markets.
The July Jump and the Adequacy Score
On a month-to-month basis the stock grew by $404.6 million. Year-on-year the gain is approximately 50%. The National Bank released the figures on 7 August and will publish the next update on 9 September.
- $7.53 billion, all-time high gross international reserves as of end-July
- $404.6 million, month-on-month increase from June
- 118.7%, current reading on the IMF ARA metric
- $2.078 billion, net FX purchases by the NBG in January-June 2026
International reserves function as the country’s main external buffer. The bank stated that its long-term stance remains focused on accumulating reserves and managing the assets whenever market conditions allow. July net-purchase data will appear on 25 August.
The $404.6 million monthly rise is large even against the heavy buying pace of the first half. It shows that the surplus conditions that supported net purchases of $2,078.4 million from January through June had not faded by mid-summer. The adequacy reading of 118.7% places Georgia above the standard emerging-market floor yet still short of the higher country-specific band the Fund prefers.
Each fresh data release therefore carries two signals at once: the absolute size of the buffer and the distance still left to the staff’s preferred coverage range.
Gold Now Holds 13.5% of the Stock
In 2024 the National Bank made its first-ever investments in monetary gold, buying 7 tons of 999.9 purity bars worth $500 million on the London market. Those bars sit in London vaults.
Gold prices have risen substantially since the initial purchase. In June 2026 the bank added another $100 million of monetary gold. As of July the metal accounts for 13.5% of total reserves, or $1.014 billion.
| Date / Event | Gold Action | Approx. Share or Value |
|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | First purchase, 7 tons | ~$500 million, ~11% at the time |
| End-2025 | Valuation gains | ~$1.002 billion, 16.3% |
| June 2026 | Additional $100 million bars | Share briefly near 15.5% |
| July 2026 | Mark-to-market | $1.014 billion, 13.5% of total |
The gold sleeve has therefore contributed both a diversification benefit and a pure valuation lift to the headline reserve total. Market observers following smaller central banks noted the June buy as part of a wider pattern of physical-metal accumulation outside the largest reserve holders.
Share swings illustrate the dual effect clearly. Valuation gains had already lifted the holding to roughly $1.002 billion by end-2025, equal to 16.3% of the then-smaller reserve stock. The June 2026 purchase of another $100 million briefly pushed the share near 15.5%. By July the metal stood at $1.014 billion, yet its weight fell to 13.5% because the overall reserve total grew faster still through dollar purchases.
In short, gold raised the absolute level of reserves even as FX buying diluted its percentage weight. Both channels reinforced the same strategic aim: a larger and more diversified external buffer.
How the Central Bank Kept Buying Dollars
Favorable foreign-exchange market conditions let the NBG act as a consistent buyer through the first half of 2026. Net purchases reached $2,078.4 million from January through June. That pace followed strong 2025 buying that had already rebuilt the stock after earlier drawdowns.
Several parallel inflow channels supported the surplus:
- Services exports, especially ICT and tourism receipts
- Remittances that stayed elevated
- Foreign direct investment, much of it reinvested earnings
- Merchandise export growth and softer oil import bills in prior periods
Appreciation pressure on the lari gave the bank room to intervene on the buy side without fighting the market. The same conditions that once forced large sales during political stress in 2024 have reversed.
The scale of the first-half purchases underscores how persistent the surplus proved. Absorbing more than $2 billion of foreign currency in six months requires steady inflows across multiple channels rather than a single windfall. Services receipts from ICT and tourism, elevated remittances, and reinvested FDI earnings all fed the same surplus that the bank converted into reserves.
Because the lari faced appreciation pressure, the NBG could buy dollars as a stabilizing act rather than a defensive one. That distinction separates the current phase from the 2024 episode, when the bank sold heavily to defend the currency.
IMF Channels Already Showing Results
A June 2026 IMF Selected Issues paper examined Georgia’s reserve needs and concluded that the recent accumulation has already strengthened financial market confidence.
The increase in foreign exchange reserves contributed to the successful refinancing of Eurobonds in early 2026. Furthermore, despite rising energy prices driven by the ongoing war in the Middle East and potential pressures on the current account, the GEL exchange rate has remained stable.
The paper, prepared by Mehmet Cangul and Will Abel, links higher reserves to three Georgia-specific benefits: lower sovereign borrowing costs, reduced incentives for private-sector dollarization, and greater capacity for foreign-exchange interventions in a still-shallow market. These second-order effects sit beyond the simple insurance value of the cash pile.
The National Bank has also stayed engaged in high-level IMF and World Bank discussions, keeping the policy dialogue open while it builds the buffer.
The Eurobond refinancing in early 2026 offers the clearest early proof of the confidence channel. Markets accepted the deal after reserves had already begun their climb, consistent with the paper’s finding that a thicker buffer lowers sovereign borrowing costs. Stability in the GEL even as energy prices rose further supports the claim that reserve strength can offset external price shocks.
From 2024 Stress to Surplus Strength
The current peak looks sharper against the backdrop of 2024. That year the bank sold more than $900 million during protests over the foreign-agents law and ahead of the October parliamentary elections. Reserves came under pressure and the lari faced sharp swings.
- Spring-Autumn 2024, large net FX sales to defend the currency during domestic political stress
- March 2024, first gold purchase of 7 tons once earlier buying had rebuilt capacity
- Full year 2025, net purchases of roughly $2.4 billion, lifting year-end reserves to about $6.16 billion
- Early 2026, continued heavy buying plus gold mark-up, Eurobond refinance completed
- July 2026, new all-time high of $7.53 billion
The turnaround shows how quickly a flexible exchange-rate regime plus opportunistic intervention can restore the cushion once inflows return. Parallel monetary decisions, including periods when the bank kept the refinancing rate steady, have aimed to keep inflation expectations anchored while the external position improved.
The sequence also clarifies timing. Gold entered the portfolio in March 2024 while the bank was still navigating political stress, yet the bulk of the dollar rebuilding came later, in 2025 and the first half of 2026. By the time reserves reached $6.16 billion at end-2025, the foundation for the 2026 Eurobond refinance and the July record was already in place.
Still Room on the Fund’s Preferred Scale
Even at 118.7% of the IMF Assessing Reserve Adequacy metric, Georgia sits below the optimal range the Fund’s own staff calculate for the country. The June paper estimates that range at roughly 145-150% of ARA once sovereign-risk, dollarization and intervention-liquidity channels are included. The baseline framework without those extensions pointed to about 130%.
| ARA Benchmark | Level |
|---|---|
| Current reading (end-July 2026) | 118.7% |
| Baseline framework optimum | about 130% |
| Extended country-specific band | roughly 145-150% |
The extra coverage would further lower financing costs, discourage private dollar holdings and leave more firepower for smoothing excessive lari moves. The NBG’s existing price-based intervention approach is judged appropriate for calibrating the pace. Global uncertainty, including energy-price effects from the Middle East conflict, keeps the case for further opportunistic buying intact.
Updated reserve data arrive on 7 September. July net-purchase numbers land on 25 August. Both releases will show whether the accumulation momentum of the first half is continuing.
The gap between 118.7% and the 145-150% band is the clearest quantitative signal that the accumulation drive has further to run. Closing it would deepen the three benefits the IMF paper already links to higher reserves: cheaper sovereign funding, weaker private dollarization incentives, and thicker intervention capacity in a shallow market.
Reserve Strength Lowers Sovereign Funding Costs
The early-2026 Eurobond refinance stands as the most concrete market test of the reserve buildup so far. The IMF paper ties that successful deal directly to the rise in foreign-exchange reserves and the confidence it generated among external creditors.
Lower sovereign borrowing costs form the first of the three Georgia-specific benefits identified by Mehmet Cangul and Will Abel. The other two, reduced private-sector dollarization incentives and greater room for FX intervention, operate more gradually. Cheaper official funding, by contrast, shows up quickly in the terms a sovereign can secure when it returns to international bond markets.
The same buffer that supported the refinance also helped keep the GEL stable when energy prices rose on the back of the Middle East conflict. Stability under external price pressure reinforces the signal that reserves are thick enough to absorb shocks without forcing abrupt currency moves. That combination, successful refinancing plus exchange-rate steadiness, is precisely the confidence channel the Fund paper describes.
Continued accumulation toward the 145-150% ARA band would, on the paper’s own logic, extend those gains. Each incremental rise in coverage further compresses the risk premium investors attach to Georgian debt and further reduces the motive for households and firms to hold dollars as a hedge.
How Gold and Dollar Buying Reinforce Each Other
The July record rests on two distinct accumulation methods that reinforce rather than substitute for each other. Net FX purchases of $2,078.4 million in the first half supplied the bulk of the volume. Gold contributed both the June addition of $100 million in new bars and the valuation gains that lifted the metal holding from its original $500 million cost to $1.014 billion by July.
Those channels interact through the adequacy arithmetic. Dollar buying raises the absolute stock and therefore the ARA ratio. Gold does the same when its price rises, yet it also diversifies the portfolio away from pure foreign-currency assets. When the overall stock grows faster than the gold sleeve, as it did between the June purchase and the July reading, the metal’s share falls even while its dollar value edges higher.
- FX purchases: volume driver, $2,078.4 million net in January-June 2026
- Gold purchases: 7 tons in 2024 plus $100 million in June 2026
- Gold valuation: holding marked at $1.014 billion by end-July
- Combined result: $7.53 billion total reserves, 118.7% ARA
The National Bank’s long-term stance of accumulating reserves whenever market conditions allow covers both instruments. Favorable FX conditions open the door to dollar buying. Periods of rising bullion prices, or deliberate decisions to add bars, open the door to gold. The July figures show both doors were used.
Because the gold bars remain in London vaults and the FX reserves stay available for intervention, the two sleeves serve complementary purposes: one for diversification and valuation, the other for immediate market operations. Together they produced the record stock and the improved adequacy score.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the IMF ARA metric measure for Georgia?
The Assessing Reserve Adequacy metric is a risk-weighted composite that combines short-term external debt, broad money, export income and other external liabilities; 100% is the conventional floor for emerging markets, while Georgia’s country-specific optimal band sits higher at 145-150% because of dollarization and shallow FX markets.
When did the National Bank of Georgia first buy gold?
The Board decided on 1 March 2024 and the bank purchased 7 tons of 999.9 purity LBMA bars worth $500 million that spring, marking the first monetary-gold holding in the independent republic’s history; the bars are stored in London.
How large is Georgia’s gold holding now relative to total reserves?
As of July 2026 gold stands at $1.014 billion, or 13.5% of the $7.53 billion total; the share has fluctuated with both new purchases and gold-price moves since the 2024 debut.
How much foreign currency did the NBG buy in the first half of 2026?
Net foreign-exchange purchases totaled $2,078.4 million from January through June 2026, driven by strong inflows that created sustained appreciation pressure the bank chose to absorb into reserves.
