Finance Minister: Georgian economy will be 2.6% higher in 2021 than in 2019

Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili stated earlier today that the country’s economy will ‘fully recover’ from losses of the last year and be 2.6% higher than it was in 2019.

During the discussion of the final draft budget for 2022 in the Georgian parliament, Khutsishvili said that Georgia has had an ‘impressive pace of economic recovery’ since the second quarter of this year, ‘making Georgia a leader not only in the region but also globally,’ he added.

• Georgian economy grows 6.9% in October 2021

Khutsishvili said that they monitor the employment rate on a 'daily basis' based on taxpayers' declarations, stating that this year, the figure is on average 4.1% higher than in 2019.

Amid high economic growth in 2021-2022, by the end of 2022, the volume of our economy will approach 65 billion GEL, and GDP per capita will be more than 5,600 USD,” Khutsishvili said. 

• PM Garibashvili: GDP growth rate in January 2022 will reach historic high

The fields that will be financed from the 2022 state budget include:

• Social programmes - 4,553 million GEL
• Healthcare programmes - 1,871 billion GEL
• Educational programmes - 2,121 billion GEL
• Culture and sports programmes - 358 million GEL
• Economic support programmes - 561 million GEL
• Infrastructure programmes - 5,884 billion GEL
• Defence and security programmes - 2,99 billion GEL
• Environmental programmes - 68 million GEL
• Courts and Chief Prosecutor's Office - 173 million GEL

Khutsishvili stated that record funding for infrastructure projects will be spent in 2022 amounting to 9.1% of GDP.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated in November that gross domestic product in Georgia will reach a historic high in January 2022 of 65 billion GEL (about $20 bln./€18 bln), saying that the country’s GDP per capita in January will be 5,500 USD.

The estimated real GDP growth rate in October 2021 was 6.9% year-on-year and 10.5% in January-October of 2021 year-on-year.