Georgia working with experts from the Cambridge, University of London, Deloitte on post-crisis economic plan
Gakharia said that based on the plan steps will be taken this year, but the plan will be oriented mostly for the following year. Photo: Georgian government press office.
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The Georgian government is working with experts from the University of Cambridge and the University of London as well as Deloitte analysts and local experts to create a post-crisis economic plan and decide what steps they should take in order to improve the Georgian economy after the coronavirus lockdown.
For that reason Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia held a videoconference with world-acclaimed professors Ha-Joon Chang, Christopher Cramer, and Jonathan D. Jones, and discussed how to overcome poverty, support economic growth and increase the competitiveness of the Georgian economy.
Gakharia and economic experts discussed ways to overcome Georgia's major economic challenges including the current account deficit and the national debt's volume.
Ha-Joon Chang is a South Korean institutional economist, specialising in development economics. Currently he is a reader in the Political Economy of Development at the University of Cambridge. Photo: Georgaian government press office.
The consultative group has been selected based on its members' many years-long experience with emerging economies and their high professionalism.
Due to the crisis our citizens are in hard times now, many of them have lost their income… we do not have much time to wait,” said Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia at a government meeting earlier today.
Georgia has taken several steps to support its citizens and the country’s economy, including but not limited to:
- Covering utility fees, including sanitary services, gas and water bills for three months (March, April, May) for households which consume less than 200 kWh of electricity and 200 cubic meters of natural gas per month
- Georgian commercial banks have postponed the payment of loans for six months in total
- People who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus crisis or are on unpaid leave will receive 1,200 GEL ($395/€352) over the course of six months, which is 200 GEL ($65.8/€58.7) per month.
- In addition, based on the plan, people employed in the informal sector or self-employed individuals will receive one-time assistance of 300 GEL ($98.6/€88) if they can substantiate claims of job loss – the budget for this is 75 million GEL ($24.7 mln/€22 mln).
Gakharia said that the post-crisis plan will give Georgia an opportunity to be effective and ready to participate in global competition.
He noted that in one month the government will have a first draft of the plan, which will be complete in another one month after discussion with local experts.
He said that based on the plan steps will be taken this year, but the plan will be oriented mostly for the following year.
What support can business expect?
The government of Georgia has presented an anti-crisis plan for Georgian businesses in order to ease the burden caused by the coronavirus crisis. The government responded to the demand of the hotels, restaurants, tourist agencies and tour operators in Georgia and decided to postpone payment of property and income tax by four months.
Georgia needs industrialisation of agricultural sector and increased productivity, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said earlier today at a presentation of the government’s agricultural anti-crisis plan.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced earlier today how the government intends to help businesses and agriculture during the COVID-19 crisis.
Georgia will spend 3.5 billion (about $1.10b/€1.02b) on its coronavirus anti-crisis plan, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced earlier today. "For now, the country will spend GEL 3.5 billion on managing the crisis, of which 1.035 billion GEL will be directed at social support of citizens, 2.11 billion GEL will be directed at the economy and entrepreneurs, while 350 million GEL will be spent on the health care of each citizen", Gakharia said.
One-fifth (20.5% = 762,621) of the Georgian population, who are of retirement age, are at high or moderate risk in terms of the new coronavirus pandemic, reads the Georgian government’s report about the measures taken against the Covid-19.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has joined world leaders at the Global Vaccine Summit 2020 hosted remotely by the UK government. In his address, PM Gakharia spoke of importance of global partnership for a small country like Georgia in ensuring public health and security.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has presented the anti-crisis budget for 2020 at the Inter-Agency Coordination Council today in response to the before sending it to the Parliament of Georgia later today. "The reason and purpose of our meeting today is the anti-crisis budget for 2020. We all understand very well that the epidemic has pushed the country back economically. Today the budget will be presented to parliament and you are all here to discuss it and change our opinions", Gakharia said.
The government of Georgia will take a new loan worth 4.47 billion GEL to handle the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the anti-crisis budget for 2020 presented today.
The 2020 budget will decrease financing of the president’s administration, the gov’t administration and the parliament amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts from Deloitte have analysed Georgian fiscal, monetary and sectoral economic policies and given recommendations to the Georgian government at an online meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia earlier today.
Georgia has chosen more than 400 companies including Finnish multinational communication company Nokia and has started talks to the companies’ managements to attract FDIs to the country.
The Georgian parliament has approved the anti-crisis budget, which reflects additional necessary expenditures of 3.4 billion GEL needed to combat the coronavirus and treat patients, the Georgian Ministry of Finance announces.
'Alternative scenarios needed for economic growth, budgeting'
Transparency International Georgia has presented an analysis and recommendations of the draft anti-crisis budget for 2020 just a few days ahead of a vote in the parliament of Georgia, which recommends that the government of Georgia needs to come up with alternative scenarios for economic growth and budgeting.
The International Trade Centre (ITC) has selected 18 national trade promotion organisations including Enterprise Georgia which will take part in the 2020 World Trade Promotion Organization (WTPO) Awards.
The Georgian Parliament has chosen international auditor company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct an audit of the State Audit Office’s 2020-2021 report.
As the shock of the pandemic is expected to last until the end of the year the government of Georgia is taking actions to further support individuals affected by the crisis. "Despite all the positive tendencies, the shock of the pandemic will last until the end of the year. Therefore, we should reexamine every social group and allocate resources for citizens who are in special need. I also want to emphasise that as of today, 721,000 citizens have already received social assistance packages which had been created by the government", said Gakharia.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has met media representatives earlier today to discuss economic development since the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps made by the government to support the economy.
The USAID will increase support for manufacturing, e-commerce, information and communications technology (ICT), and other innovative sectors, said Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava earlier today after meeting USAID Georgia Mission Director Peter Wiebler.
The Georgian government has announced a 100 million GEL ($32.46 mln/€27.48 mln) tender to ensure the completion of unfinished construction projects. The government will then sign a sale option agreement with the winners of the tender and purchase not more than 30 per cent of the total living space of each building.
A state commission will be set up to work on a long-term economic development plan, announces Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.