Russia’s Wine Threat Drives Georgian Currency to Weakest Ever
Russia’s Wine Threat Drives Georgian Currency to Weakest Ever
(Bloomberg) -- Georgia’s lari hit a record low on Tuesday as relations between the tiny Caucasus nation and Russia took a turn for the worse.
Russia has targeted Georgia’s wine exports and banned flights to the region in recent days, threatening two key sources of the former soviet Republic’s revenue. Ties between the two nations have been on a knife edge since they fought a brief war in 2008. The latest protests in the capital Tbilisi erupted last week over Moscow’s perceived influence in the country.
The lari slipped 0.7% to 2.8250 per dollar on Tuesday, putting it on track for one the worst performances among currencies globally this month. Yields on the nation’s dollar debt due in 2021 jumped 17 basis points, the most since early March, to 3.84%.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nicholson in Moscow at anicholson6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dana El Baltaji at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net, Torrey Clark
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