Sipping Georgian red wine at a reception to celebrate the launch of a new computer system to manage the country's foreign exchange reserves, National Bank of Georgia (NBG) governor Giorgi Kadagidze looks boyish and relaxed.
His appearance belies the 31-year-old bank governor's fierce drive to bring Georgia's financial system in line with some of the world's most developed countries. The automated management system used by central banks in France, Germany and the Netherlands, among others, will improve NBG's ability to manage its $2.7bn of foreign exchange reserves, which have reached an historic high and mark another step along the country's road to financial modernisation.
