As part of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank held in the United States, Natia Turnava, Governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), participated in a high-level forum hosted by the World Bank. The event convened female central bank governors and finance ministers from across the globe to discuss advancing women's economic participation.

Deputy Minister of Finance of Georgia, Ekaterine Guntsadze, also attended the session.

The discussion focused on strategies to expand women’s involvement in entrepreneurship, with particular emphasis on improving access to financial services. Key topics included the role of credit guarantee schemes, electronic payment tools, and capital co-financing mechanisms in enabling women's economic empowerment.

A central theme of the event was the World Bank’s “Women Entrepreneurs’ Access to Finance Program.” Governor Turnava expressed Georgia’s readiness to actively participate in the initiative, noting that the country has already secured support from the program's founding partners.

Turnava also highlighted significant steps taken by the National Bank of Georgia to promote gender equality in financial sector governance. Under revised corporate governance codes, gender quotas for supervisory boards have been expanded across both commercial banks and microbanks.

“We began with a 20% quota for commercial banks, which increased to 33% in 2023 and will reach 40% by June 2025. For microbanks, the target is 40% by July 2026,” she stated. “These measures are not just about representation, but about ensuring women’s active involvement in strategic decision-making.”

Currently, women hold 54% of senior and middle management roles within the National Bank, and five of the nine members of the NBG’s Board are women. Since the governance code updates, female representation on supervisory boards has increased from 9% to 37%, according to the NBG.