Draft budget: Georgia will enjoy 10b GEL state budget in 2017

Next year Georgia will have a budget of 10 billion GEL to use for state agencies, projects and to further the country.

This was 410 million GEL more than the 2016 budget, said Georgia’s Ministry of Finance today.

This afternoon the Finance Ministry released details of the draft budget for 2017.

The initial version of the draft state budget was 10.55 billion GEL, of which 9.52 billion GEL will be composed of budgetary funds, 135 million GEL will be grants and 900 million GEL will be credits.

Next year’s budget is planned following these parameters –4.5 percent economic growth is forecast in 2017, there is four percent forecast of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and GDP deflator,” read the draft state budget.

State budget revenues will be about 8.71 billion GEL while budget expenditures will reach 8.17 billion GEL, which was 22.3 percent of GDP.

Georgia was currently enjoying a stable economy and was expected to end the year 2016 on a financial high. Georgia’s state budget fulfilled its revenue plan in the first nine months of the year, and was now in "significant surplus”.

Between January and September 2016 Georgia’s consolidated budget incomes reached 6.47 billion GEL – a 140 million GEL surplus, said the Finance Ministry.