Agriculture Minister: ‘gov't will subsidise increase in food prices again if necessary’

Georgian Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili says that if necessary the government will subsidise the increase in food prices again.

If we see a critical need, we may need to intervene to balance these market processes...Let's see how the lari exchange rate goes, the external factor is also very big, which is related not only to economic but also political factors. We must act according to the situation. I think the state will respond with full responsibility to protect the interests of the population", Davitashvili said.

In spring of this year the government of Georgia subsidised nine food products and allocated 10 million GEL from the budget for this reason. The products subsidised were: rice, pasta, sunflower oil, flour, sugar, wheat, buckwheat, beans, milk powder and its derivatives.

The latest inflation data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) shows that in August 2020 the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages have decreased in Georgia month-on-month by 0.5 per cent. As for annual inflation, prices increased in the group of food and non-alcoholic beverages (+9.2 per cent), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+8.9 per cent).

Meanwhile, the lari (GEL) has been continuing to lose value against the US dollar and as the National Bank of Georgia explains the reason is an increased number of new coronavirus cases in Georgia and the upcoming parliamentary elections. 

As of today, 1 USD costs 3.3203 GEL, while 1 EUR costs 3.8708 GEL.