Georgia’s household debt crisis deepens in the wake of COVID-19
Georgia’s household debt crisis deepens in the wake of COVID-19

Summary/Abstract: Approximately 150 kilometres north of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, and nestled into a valley below Mount Kazbek lies the town of Stepantsminda. Home to a population of fewer than 2,000 permanent residents, Stepantsminda has become a popular destination over the last decade and has economically benefited from Georgia’s growing tourism sector. Keti, a local woman from the Kazbegi region, joined the area’s emergent hospitality sector in 2015. She opened a hotel with the help of a loan from one of the country’s largest private banks, Bank of Georgia. At the time, Keti thought little of paying back the loan, noting that everyone else was taking loans when tourism was thriving in the town. Two years later, when she wanted to extend her business, she again approached the bank about another loan. This time it was TBC, Bank of Georgia’s main competitor, which offered Keti a loan on the condition that she would transfer the existing debt to them.

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