‘Citizen oriented’ 14.2 billion GEL state budget proposed for 2020

The Georgian government has presented a bill to parliament requesting 14.2 billion GEL ($4.77 bln/€4.37 bln) for the 2020 budget, including budgetary funds of 12.99 billion GEL ($4.37 bln/€4 bln), grants of 45 million GEL ($15.12 mln/€13.85 mln)  and credit of 1.17 billion GEL ($0.39 bln/€0.36 bln).

Compared to 2019, there is about 900 million extra lari ($302.47 mln/€277.02 mln) which will be fully spent on Georgian citizens, especially on those who need to have their pensions and salaries raised. We can really call this budget a citizen oriented budget“, said Irakli Kovzanadze, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee.

The 2020 budget reflects the development of the regions and needs of self-governments, education, security, infrastructure development and other important areas”, the chairman of parliament, Archil Talakvadze.

The economic indicators for 2020 are expected to be as follows:

• 5% economic growth
• GDP of 48.5 billion GEL ($16.3 bln/€14.93 bln)
• Budget deficit 2.7% (relative to GDP)
• Inflation - 3%
• Government debt – 45% (relative to GDP)

By 2020, state debt is expected to be 22.68 billion GEL ($7.62 bln/€6.98 bln), while the external debt of the state is expected to be 17.71 billion GEL ($5.95 bln/€5.45 bln), and the amount of domestic debt is expected to be 4.97 billion GEL ($1.67 bln/€1.53 bln).

In 2020, social spending is projected to increase by 300 million GEL ($100.82 mln/€92.34 mln) and 1.07 billion GEL ($0.36 bln/€0.33 bln) will be allocated to health programs.

From July 1, 2020, the salaries of village doctors will increase by 100 GEL ($33.6/€31.07)", said Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. Photo: Government's press office.

• Pensions, disability payments and teachers’ salaries expecting significant increase

More than 1.8 billion GEL ($0.6 bln/€0.55 bln) will be spent on education, while 1.02 billion GEL ($0.34 bln/€0.31 bln) will go towards defence and the police.

More than 3.7 billion GEL ($1.24 bln/€1.14 bln) will be spent on financing infrastructure projects. More than 240 million GEL ($80.66 mln/€73.87 mln) will be allocated to small and medium-size businesses.

The total volume of state budget expenditure will be 10.67 billion GEL ($3.58 bln/€3.28 bln)which will be distributed as follows:

• State employee pay - 1.56 billion GEL ($0.52 bln/€0.48 bln)
• Goods and services – 1.32 billion GEL ($0.44 bln/€0.41 bln)
• Interest rate payment of foreign and domestic debt - 720 million GEL ($241.98 mln/€221.61 mln)
• Subsidies – 517.4 million GEL ($173.89 mln/€159.25 mln)
• Grants – 652.2 million GEL ($219.19 mln/€200.74 mln)
• Social security - 4.32 billion GEL ($1.45 bln/€1.33 bln)
• Other expenses – 1.58 billion GEL ($0.53 bln/€0.49 bln)

Income to the state treasury in 2020 will be 14.04 billion GEL ($4.72 bln/€4.32 bln) in which tax income is 10.3 billion GEL ($3.46 bln/€3.17 bln).

The budget will be distributed amongst ministries as follows:

• The Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs - 4.34 billion GEL  ($1.46 bln/€1.34 bln)
• The Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure – 2.07 billion GEL ($0.7 bln/€0.64 bln)
• The Ministry of Education, Science, culture and sport – 1.64 billion GEL ($0.55 bln/€0.5 bln)
• The Ministry of Defense -880 million GEL ($295.75 mln/€270.86 mln)
• The Ministry of Internal Affairs – 770 million GEL ($258.78 mln/€237 mln)
• The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development – 364 million GEL ($122.33 mln/€112.04 mln)
• The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture – 353 million GEL ($118.64 mln/€108.65 mln)
• The Ministry of Justice -203 million GEL ($68.22 mln/€62.48 mln)
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs - 159 million GEL ($53.44 mln/€48.94 mln)
• The Ministry of Finance – 93 million GEL ($31.26 mln/€28.63 mln)