ADB approves $200 million policy loan to support Georgia’s economic recovery

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $200 million policy-based loan today to support Georgia’s recovery from the coronavirus disease pandemic by launching a fiscal resilience and social protection support programme aiming to ensure macroeconomic stability in the medium to long term while continuing to protect the livelihoods of those most affected by the crisis. 

The ADB programme also aims to strengthen the management of public exposure to fiscal risks and deepen domestic markets for government securities. 

These measures seek to reduce the share of general government debt denominated in foreign currency and minimise public exposure to refinancing and currency risks that threaten macroeconomic stability.

The programme will also help ensure the fiscal sustainability of social protection programmes that were expanded during the crisis. 

It will support government reforms to the national pension plan, benefitting senior citizens and other social protection systems to promote an inclusive return to economic growth.  

In May this year the ADB approved a $100 million loan to support the government’s anti-crisis measures, including tax deferments for small and medium-sized businesses, temporary payments for pandemic-affected workers, and free access to COVID-19 diagnostic and treatment services.