Gakharia presents anti-crisis budget for 2020
On 9 June, the Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia presented the anti-crisis budget for 2020 at the Inter-Agency Coordination Council before sending it to the Parliament for a vote.
He emphasized that the key task on which the budget builds on was fast virus detection, rapid treatment, and fast return of citizens to normal economic life. In Gakharia’s words, “unpredictability is the main economic problem posed by this crisis, being a major challenge facing the global economy and, of course, an even more serious, difficult one in the case of Georgia's small and extremely open economy.” He emphasized, that is why it is the Georgian government's key responsibility to be maximally fair and effective in distributing the country's resources among the most affected sectors of economy.
According to the annual forecast it is expected that: 1) the Georgian economy would shrink by 4%; 2) exports would decrease by more than 6%; 3) the current account deficit would shrink to 10.3% of Georgia’s GDP, 4) tourism and remittances will be reduced significantly; 5) consolidated budget tax revenues will be reduced by more than 1.5 billion lari; 6) 3.4 billion lari will be mobilised for the anti-crisis plan; and 7) the budget deficit would increase from 2.5% to 8.5%
In addition, the consolidated budget revenues (excluding debt and donor grants) for 2020 were planned at 13.70 billion lari. Because of the pandemic, the loss of revenue amounts to just 1.81 billion lari. The budget of the presidential administration would also decrease by 750,000 lari, while financing for the Georgian government’s administration and the parliament will decrease by 1 million lari and 4 million lari respectively. Additional resources mobilised in the budget to prevent the pandemic and its consequences amount to 5.63 billion lari, which includes credits allocated by the international partners (4.47 billion lari).
A day prior, the Georgian government lifted restrictions on the intercity transport, currency exchange booths and all types of restaurants that have received permission from the Georgian Health Ministry. However, the quarantine regimes set in two villages of Bolnisi Municipality – Mushevan and Getta – remained in force.
The current tally of Covid-19 cases in Georgia stands at 818 with 13 reported deaths.