Georgia expects 5% economic growth, says Minister

Georgia's economic growth is expected to hit five percent in 2015, Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri says however the Government has not looked at the economic growth forecast yet.

"I would like to mention that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) estimated that the Georgian economy would grow by four percent,” Khaduri said.

"Today EBRD expects 4.2 percent growth of the Georgian economy. As for our forecast – it is five percent,” he said.

"However, we are still working with the National Bank of Georgia, the Ministry of Economy and the International Monetary Fund to analyse all the risks. We will make new decisions following the current challenges,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Minister said the inflation rate was very low in Georgia despite the fact the Georgian national currency, the Lari, was fluctuating again.

"Georgia’s Ministry of Finance has not put pressure on the state budget, which means that the budget was proficient at operational level. Revenues exceeded expenses and we will keep this tendency. We do not put pressure on the exchange rate as well,” Khaduri said.

Meanwhile, the Lari has once again depreciated against the US Dollar.

On February 10 the National Bank of Georgia set a new official exchange rate where $1 USD cost 2.0346 GEL. The exchange rate set by the bank on February 7 was 2.0307.