POTENTIAL AND POSSIBLE EFFECT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF GEORGIAN FINANCIAL MARKETS
Authors: Kherkhadze Alim 
Published: August 2022

The country's central property rests on the institutional and organizational strength of the major price chaos market and the banking sector. Georgian banking system is currently developed not only in the country, but in all regions, the Georgian securities market and the only licensed representative of this market in the country - the Georgian Stock Exchange is undeveloped and unique. The securities market is a kind of economic barometer of the country, a measure of the pulse, which is primarily reflected in the ongoing political, economic and social changes in the country and in the world.

The securities market provides fast mobilization of temporarily free cash without bureaucratic intermediaries (in this case banks) and with minimal additional fees compared to bank credit, respectively the banking system and the stock market are competitors.

In 1998-2000, with the help of the best government and financial market experts in Georgia, the foundations of the securities market began to form. During this period, everyone was well aware that these two most important financial institutions should be developed together on an equal footing, under conditions of fair competition, and tried not to allow one sphere to be absorbed or oppressed by another. For some reason, the new post-Soviet Georgia had better starting conditions in the banking sector, as enshrined in the 1998 Law on the Securities Market adopted by the Georgian Parliament. By law, the securities industry was separated from the banking sector in order for securities to be newly established mechanisms to enable independent real development opportunities.

JSC "Georgian Stock Exchange" (JSC) was established on January 12, 1999 at the initiative of leading brokerage companies, commercial banks, insurance companies and investment funds. Special activity on the Georgian Stock Exchange began in 2004, when after the change of government, the legislation related to privatization was changed and the economic recovery began, corruption was significantly reduced, the financial market was opened, investments were increased.

The reduction of trading volume on the Georgian Stock Exchange was caused by the financial crisis of 2008 and a change in the legislation, which resulted in the abolition of the self-regulatory system of the stock exchange and its controlling body became the National Bank of Georgia. Since 2007, the stock exchange has been managed by a group of banks that currently own 58% of the stock exchange shares, of which the Bank of Georgia has the largest package with 46%.

As of March 1, 2022, the balance of deposits of legal entities and individuals attracted by commercial banks in national currency is 15.06 billion GEL, weighted by an average of 11.06%, and the volume of deposits of legal entities and individuals attracted in foreign currency - equivalent to 22.03 billion GEL. , On average by 0.81%. (SEB, 2022) In total, 37.1 billion GEL of free cash is deposited in Georgian banks, and if at least a quarter of it returns to the Georgian Stock Exchange, it is easy to imagine the level of economic growth and the size of the national economy.

As of May 6, 2022, about 2.31 billion GEL has been accumulated in the pension fund, 60% of the objects are placed on certificates of deposit, 1.3% - on time deposits, 5.8% - on foreign corporate shares (133.98 million 56 l),% - interest Accounts in foreign currency, and 24.69% - on interest accounts (Pension Agency, 2022). In other words, the funds kept by the citizens of Georgia in the pension fund either go to the banking system and only then take part in the short-term activity, ie by buying their securities for about 134 million GEL with the growth of the foreign economy. The development of the Georgian stock market would have facilitated the growing funds of the pension fund, invested more profitably with bank deposits, and the national economy growing faster, with more commission and interest rate pressures than bank credit.

As of April 30, 2022, the capitalization of the stock market on the Georgian Stock Exchange amounted to about 2.29 billion GEL, which is only 3.8% of the GDP of Georgia in 2021 (60.2 billion GEL), while this figure has developed stock markets. Countries have more than 100% of GDP. According to the years, the ratio of capitalization of the Georgian stock market to GDP in the same year is declining and was 4.8% in 2020 (due to the pandemic, GDP decreased this year, the capitalization of companies remained largely unchanged), in 2019 - 3.97%; In 2018 - 4.39%; In 2017 - 8.16%. As of May 2, 2022, securities of 23 companies with a total market capitalization of USD 0.748 billion and an average daily turnover of 21 GEL in April 2022 were admitted to the trading system of the CBS.

On March 24-30, 2022, we conducted a survey on how people manage their savings through the platform google forms, in which 629 people participated. The results of the survey showed that the culture of accumulation in the population is quite high and they would like to buy securities on the Georgian Stock Exchange.

In our opinion, the development of the securities market in Georgia will reduce the employment problem partly through self-employment, the economy will be developed thanks to direct financing of economic entities (and not by scheme = population = bank => enterprises) and increase the speed of cash circulation. The state has a big role to play in the process of establishing a securities market in developing economies. The securities market is a necessary and important element of the global economy, without which the normal functioning of a market economy is impossible. Relevant legislative changes and political will are needed to strengthen the Georgian stock market.