Fixed deposits in Georgia: term, currency and what is left of the lari interest
Fixed deposits in Georgia: what lari and dollar deposits pay according to the National Bank, which terms are usual, how deposit insurance applies and where the lari risk lies.
Anyone searching for a fixed deposit in Georgia usually has a number in mind already: interest European and British savers have not seen for years. The number is roughly right. What it leaves out is what it depends on: the currency, the term, and how the lari moves against your own currency while your money is tied up. The answers come from the National Bank of Georgia's official figures, not from advertising.
What a fixed deposit in Georgia is
A fixed deposit, called a term deposit in Georgian banking, is money placed for a term agreed in the contract at a fixed rate. The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) defines term deposits in exactly this way in its statistics, and expressly counts certificates of deposit among them.
In practice you first need an account at a Georgian bank, from which the term deposit is opened. How the opening works remotely by power of attorney is explained on our page on the bank account in Georgia and in opening a bank account in Georgia. The fixed deposit itself is then usually a few clicks in online banking: amount, currency, term, done. The real decisions are made before that.
Lari or dollar: the rates according to the National Bank
The most reliable source for Georgian fixed deposit rates is not the advertising of individual banks but the National Bank's statistics. Every month it publishes the weighted average rate on all newly placed term deposits at every bank in the country (table D3.22, "Market Interest Rates on Term Deposits"). Deposits at zero interest are excluded. The current edition of 26 October 2026 runs to September 2026:
| New term deposits, annual rate | September 2025 | September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Private customers, in lari (GEL) | 10.88% | 9.35% |
| Companies, in lari | 8.51% | 8.42% |
| Private customers, in foreign currency | 2.32% | 2.18% |
| Companies, in foreign currency | 4.28% | 3.84% |
Source: NBG, table D3.22, available on the National Bank's statistics page. The next update is announced for 25 November 2026.
Three things stand out. First: the gap between lari and foreign currency is huge, 9.35% against 2.18% for private customers in September 2026. Second: lari rates have fallen by around one and a half percentage points over the year. Third: these are averages across all banks, amounts and terms; your actual offer can be above or below them.
Monetary policy explains the high lari rates. On 21 October 2026 the National Bank kept its policy rate at 8.25%. Inflation was 5.6% in September 2026; the National Bank's target is 3%, and it expects inflation to converge gradually towards it only from the second half of 2027. A lari deposit at just over 9% therefore yields around three and a half to four points in real terms: a lot, but clearly less than the bare number promises.
Term: what is usual and what to watch
The National Bank also measures how long customers tie up their money (table DMAT, "Maturity of Deposits"). At the end of September 2026 the average original term of all term deposits was 1.6 years: 1.9 years for lari deposits and 1.2 years for foreign currency deposits (NBG, table DMAT).
Four points in the contract matter, and you should read them before you sign:
- Fixed or breakable. Some term deposits can be closed early, often at a much lower rate for the time already elapsed. Others are locked until maturity. Only your contract with the bank decides what applies to your deposit.
- Interest payment. Monthly, at maturity or added to the capital; monthly payment costs you the compounding.
- Rollover. Check whether the deposit renews automatically at the rate then current; with falling rates, as in 2026, that is rarely the rate you started with.
- Top-ups. Some deposits accept payments during the term, others do not.
One rule has stood the test of time: the term follows the purpose, not the highest rate. If you need the money in a year for a move or a property, do not take a three-year lock-in for half a point more. If you need several amounts at different times, put them into deposits with staggered terms.
The currency question: what is left of the lari interest
The most important sentence about a fixed deposit in Georgia is this: a lari rate is only a good rate if the lari does not fall during the term by more than the extra interest makes up. Anyone who thinks and spends in euros or pounds has to change back at the end. Two calculations at the National Bank's official rates show how far apart the results can be. The worked example is in euros; the pound figures for the same dates follow each one.
The good year. Suppose you changed exactly EUR 10,000 on 7 November 2025 at the official rate of GEL 3.1193 per euro, giving GEL 31,193, and placed it for one year at 10.88%, roughly the average for private customers that autumn. After a year you would have had around GEL 34,587. On 7 November 2026 the euro stood at GEL 2.8998. Changed back, that is around EUR 11,927, a gain of just over 19% before tax and exchange costs. The lari had gained around 7.6% against the euro over the year, so interest and currency worked in the same direction. For a saver in sterling the same year looked more modest: GBP 10,000 at GEL 3.5446 per pound would have come back at GEL 3.4746 as around GBP 11,311, a gain of about 13%, because the lari rose only around 2% against the pound.
The bad year. Between 3 November 2014 and 31 December 2015 the euro rose from GEL 2.2064 to GEL 2.6169, according to the National Bank. Measured in euros, a lari balance lost almost 16% of its value in those fourteen months. Even with 10% interest you would have lost about six to seven percent in euro terms. Against the pound the fall was steeper: from GEL 2.8072 to GEL 3.5492, a loss of around 21%, which even 10% interest would have left at a loss of around 12 to 13% in sterling. Against the dollar the slump was deeper still; the figures are in our article on deposit insurance in Georgia.
Both years are real, and neither predicts the next. The lesson is not a verdict on the lari but a split by function: the lari deposit is the return-seeking part; the reserve sits in dollars or euros. A foreign currency fixed deposit pays only just over 2% on average, according to the National Bank, but carries no lari risk. If you live in pounds or euros and deposit dollars, though, you carry the risk between your currency and the dollar, and that can also amount to a few percent a year.
A practical note: the rates quoted are the National Bank's official rates, and banks exchange at a spread around them. On a one-year deposit the spread in and out makes a noticeable difference, so ask for the actual rate before changing larger amounts.
How safe a fixed deposit in Georgia is
Term deposits in Georgia fall under the state deposit insurance. The Deposit Insurance Agency, Georgia's deposit insurance authority, currently covers GEL 50,000 per depositor and per bank; all accounts at the same bank are added together for this. At the rate of 7 November 2026 that is around EUR 17,240 or around GBP 14,390. On 28 September 2026 the agency announced that the limit rises to GEL 100,000 from 1 January 2027, around EUR 34,490 or GBP 28,780 at the same rate.
Two consequences: the limit is set in lari, so its value in your currency moves with the rate; and amounts above the cover can be spread across several banks, each covered separately. How payout, deadlines and currency conversion work in an insured event is explained in detail in our article on Georgia's deposit insurance.
Fixed deposits in Georgia and your tax
A Georgian fixed deposit is legal, and the interest is taxable in your country of residence like any other investment income, declared there in your own tax return. If you live in the UK, HMRC's guidance is plain: UK residents normally pay tax on foreign income, savings interest included, and usually report it in the "foreign" section of the Self Assessment tax return. If Georgian tax was withheld, it appears on the interest statement; you can usually claim Foreign Tax Credit Relief, and how much depends on the double taxation agreement between the UK and Georgia. Readers in the Nordic countries declare the interest in their annual return at home in the same way. What else belongs in the return for an account abroad is set out country by country in Declaring your offshore account.
One sentence on the exchange of information belongs here too: Georgia formally joined the CRS in 2024; in practice the banks ask for neither proof of address nor a tax ID, and no reliable, usable data flow can be seen to date. That changes nothing about your tax liability. The interest belongs in your return, whoever learns of it.
Who a fixed deposit in Georgia suits
A fixed deposit in Georgia fits when three things come together: an amount you will certainly not need for the term; the calm to live with swings in the lari, or a deliberate choice of dollars or euros at the lower rate; and the wish to run an account outside the EU and the UK as a second pillar anyway, not only for one deposit.
It does not fit if you need the money available at any time, if you would put your entire reserve into a small emerging-market currency, or if you are counting on the interest as a safe return. The comparison with the options closer to home, with full deposit protection of EUR 100,000 in the EU and GBP 120,000 in the UK, is in fixed deposits outside your country.
Frequently asked questions about fixed deposits in Georgia
What interest do fixed deposits in Georgia pay? According to the National Bank of Georgia, private customers received an average of 9.35% a year on new lari term deposits in September 2026, and 2.18% on foreign currency deposits. Individual offers can be higher or lower.
What term is usual for a fixed deposit in Georgia? At the end of September 2026 the average original term was 1.9 years for lari deposits and 1.2 years for foreign currency deposits, according to the National Bank.
Can I close a Georgian fixed deposit early? That depends on the contract. Some deposits allow it in return for a lower rate, others do not. Read the terms before you sign.
Is my fixed deposit in Georgia insured? Yes, up to GEL 50,000 per depositor and bank, and up to GEL 100,000 from 1 January 2027, whatever the currency of the deposit.
Do I need a Georgian bank account for a fixed deposit? Yes. The fixed deposit is opened from an account at the same bank. Which bank suits your profile and how the account is opened without travelling is something we work out with you in the free consultation.
In the free consultation we work out with you which Georgian bank fits your amount, your currency and your term, and how the account behind the deposit is opened without a trip to Tbilisi.
Note: This article is not tax, legal or investment advice. For individual tax questions, speak to a qualified tax adviser.