Finance Minister: 2021 state budget to include quarantine, testing and vaccine expenditures
The budget has been planned with a 4.3% economic growth forecast and the parameters of the budget were agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund. Photo: Ministry of Finance.
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The 2021 state budget of Georgia will include expenditures for quarantine, testing and Covid-19 vaccine and will be discussed at the parliament of Georgia by the end of this month, announces Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani.
He added that the budget has been planned with a 4.3% economic growth forecast and the parameters of the budget were agreed upon with the International Monetary Fund.
Matchavariani said that it is important for the country that the opposition party enters the parliament and takes part in the discussion of the l budget.
The budget is one of the most important documents that parliament considers during the year. Its urgency today is as high as ever in this time of pandemic and crisis. If the budget is not approved by the parliament, the automatic model will be activated, which is not good", Matchavariani said.
He also announced that of the state programmes that support business and society the government will continue to cover utility fees for certain citizens based on energy consumption levels.
Matchavariani said that the decision to extend or not the other programmes will be announced soon.
The Georgian Business Association asked the government of Georgia to make changes to the Tax Code as soon as possible in order to extend tax breaks for businesses for another six months as those announced six months ago expired on November 1.
Businesses who paid salaries lower than 1,500 GEL per worker paid only a portion of the income tax, while businesses who paid monthly salaries of up to 750 GEL were fully exempt from personal income tax for six months. In addition, the hotel industry did not pay income tax.
The Georgian Business Association has asked the government of Georgia and the newly elected parliament to make changes to the Tax Code as soon as possible in order to extend the tax breaks imposed on businesses in the spring amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The bill which was earlier approved by the House of Representatives said that Georgia should receive “not less than USD $132 million in financial assistance.”
Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Machavariani said that the depreciation of the Georgian national currency, the lari, is caused by the current political tensions in the country.
Georgia has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the parameters of the 2021 budget, announces Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani.
Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani said that the new restrictions imposed by the government today give ground to revise the economic growth rate of 2021.
Estimated real gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 3.9 per cent in October 2020 year-on-year, and by 5.1 per cent in the first ten months of 2020, show the latest data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
Next year Georgia will have a state budget of 18 billion GEL to use for state agencies, projects, and also to alleviate sectors of the economy affected Covid-19. The final version of the draft state budget for 2021 is already being discussed by parliament.
The 2021 budget of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure will be 2.37 billion GEL: the highest in the history of the ministry and exceeds the budget of 2020 by 551.3 million GEL (30%), announces the ministry.
Georgian non-governmental organisation the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has reviewed the 2021 state budget of Georgia and presented its recommendations to help the government better formulate a financial plan for the 2021 fiscal year.
This year Georgia has spent its fiscal buffers (reserves) which increased the 2020 budget deficit to 9.1 per cent, while government debt to GDP ratio increased to 59.9 per cent, said Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani earlier today when presenting the 2020 annual activity report of the Finance Ministry.
The government will have to reconsider the tax breaks which have been in question for a long time, said Acting Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia earlier today.