On 18 March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) committed itself in providing support to Georgia under the challenging and uncertain circumstances due to the coronavirus, reported agenda.ge. 

The Georgian government asked the IMF to increase the funding for Georgia in the framework of the Extended Fund Facility (Caucasus Watch reported) programme which was extended by one year in December 2019 until April 2021.

“As the IMF welcomes the authorities timely and decisive actions in monitoring, containing and mitigating the effects of the coronavirus…the number one priority in terms of fiscal response is ensuring front line health related spending to protect people’s well-being, taking care of the sick and slowing the spread of the virus,” said IMF Resident Representative in Georgia Selim Cakir. Cakir noted that the IMF and Georgia are going to work together to assess the economic shock resulting from the new coronavirus and offset its negative economic impact of the pandemic. 

On 17 March, Georgia’s national currency, the Lari, hit an all time low in comparison to the US Dollar due to the economic impacts of the virus on the country (Caucasus Watch reported).

The US embassy to Georgia also announced the deployment of a rapid response grant programme for Georgian civil society organisations, civic movements and citizen groups to help the country respond to challenges caused by the virus in a timely manner.

The grant programme titled Act Now will be carried out by USAID Georgia. Grants will range between $500-$5,000. The US Embassy to Georgia said that these grants are designed to rapidly deploy flexible resources to organizations and civic activists to take civic action to: 1) minimize the threat/spread of the virus in Georgia; 2) provide critical support to disproportionately impacted and/or at-risk communities; 3) facilitate inter-sectoral cooperation to help strengthen/scale up national response efforts; and 4) address other significant aspects of the COVID-19 crisis as efficiently as possible.

The embassy said that the Act Now Rapid Response Grants could be requested at any time and applicants must demonstrate that the proposed intervention is critical and that it must happen quickly to be effective. Considering the urgency of the issue, the grant applications would be processed within three to seven days.

Meanwhile, four new cases of coronavirus infected persons in the country were reported, bringing the total tally to 37.