PM Gakharia: ‘shock of pandemic will last until end of 2020, we have to increase social help'
At today's government meeting Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia tasked the Ministry of Finance to reexamine every social group and allocate resources for citizens who are in special need. Photo: Gov't of Georgia.
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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.
At today's government meeting Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia tasked the Ministry of Finance to reexamine every social group and allocate resources for citizens who are in special need.
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.
Gakharia said that 'together with our citizens we have managed the virus effectively, this is the key to recover the economy rapidly and effectively'.
Some positive signs have already appeared in our economy and activities beyond the tourism sector have clearly increased, as well as in the financial sector the indicators are quite positive; in terms of tax revenue, in terms of current account balance. All this is only the result of the fact that we, the country, have managed and still effectively manage the virus", said Gakharia.
Gakharia said that activities have increased in some fields of the economy and especially since the government announced anti-crisis programmes.
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.
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 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.
How does the gov’t plan to support the construction sector?
The Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia has presented a fourth anti-crisis plan today worth 434 million GEL aimed at supporting the construction and development sector of Georgia. He said that the construction and development sector was one of the fastest growing sectors which employed 120,000 people in 2019.
Georgia has reported four new cases of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 1,010. 885 of the 1,010 patients have recovered, while 15 others have died. As of today 110 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia.10 more Georgian soldiers have tested positive for the coronavirus in Afghanistan who have been transported to Georgia earlier today via the German Air Force. Eight of the 28 Georgian soldiers who tested positive for the coronavirus in Afghanistan on July 10 have recovered.