Rondeli Foundation: Georgian govt’s anti-crisis programme targeted most vulnerable segments of society ‘with fair degree of accuracy’
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The Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Rondeli Foundation) conducted a study titled ‘Impact of Anti-pandemic Restrictions and Government Anti-crisis Measures on Employment, Incomes and the Poverty Level in Georgia’ during the Covid-19 pandemic and has now released its report.
The study shows that the Georgian government’s anti-crisis programme during the pandemic targeted with a ‘fairly high degree of accuracy the most vulnerable segments of society, ensuring that the level of income was maintained and slowing a dramatic increase in poverty’.
The study reads that the anti-crisis measures have substantially slowed down declining income and the growth of poverty in Georgia.
Without the anti-crisis measures, the unemployment rate could have risen by 20 per cent, income would have fallen by an average of 8.7 per cent, and the poverty rate would have risen by 4.4 per cent in the country”, reads the study.
The study also reads that without the government’s anti-crisis measures, the extreme poverty rate would have been very high and reached 27.7 per cent in the third quarter, while it would have dropped significantly to 18.4 per cent as a result of the government’s support.
The increase in poverty level would have been the most dramatic in the second quarter. It might have reached the 30.5 per cent mark while the increase would have been significant (O.1 of a percentage point) with state support.
It is also mentioned in the study that the government should take long-term measures, one part of which has already been implemented, the other has been announced and the third is being developed along with the current wave of the crisis.
The study was implemented by the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Rondeli Foundation) with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).
See the full study here.
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.
As of now about 132,000 self-employed people have registered in total to receive one-time assistance of 300 GEL from the government of Georgia in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The government of Georgia's financial assistance significantly has contributed to poverty alleviation, says a microsimulation model report on the pandemic’s effect on the population and child poverty presented by UNICEF and the Georgian government today.
As of today, 600,868 children have been registered for the state social assistance programme in which children up to 17 years old will receive 200 GEL from the state.
A total of 1,784 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Georgia over the last 24 hours after conducting 14,421 tests. Meanwhile, 4,119 people have recovered, outnumbering the new cases; while 39 individuals have died.