The policy rate stayed at 8.25% on 9 September — and the bank left the door open to raising it

At its meeting on 9 September 2026 the National Bank of Georgia left the policy rate at 8.25%, pointing to persistent inflationary risks. Annual inflation was 5.6% in August, with core inflation at 3.6% and services at 4.4%. The gap between those numbers is the story: headline prices are being pushed by energy and imported food, while the underlying, domestically generated part of inflation is closer to the bank's 3% target. That is why a rate rise was discussed rather than delivered.

The committee signalled it could moderately raise the rate if drawn-out supply shocks start lifting inflation expectations, and that it would begin normalising — that is, cutting — once price pressure eases. Its own projection has inflation averaging around 5.2% this year before converging on 3% over the medium term. Read plainly, that is a central bank telling you it is not in a hurry to make money cheaper, and that the next move is as likely to be up as down.

Lari mortgage pricing sits on top of this rate, so a hold at 8.25% means local borrowing costs are not about to fall on their own. If you are weighing a lari loan against a developer's instalment plan, the comparison is less about headline percentages and more about who carries the currency risk and what happens if you need to exit early. And if you are a landlord modelling a yield, do the sum at today's cost of money rather than at the cheaper rate you are hoping for in two years.

The National Bank publishes each committee decision with its reasoning on its own site, and the schedule of meetings is set in advance, so this is one of the few numbers in Georgian economic life you can genuinely diary. If a lender or a sales agent quotes you a rate as though it were fixed forever, the bank's own calendar is the free check on that claim.