A year into the Covid-19 pandemic: what impact has it had on the Georgian economy?
Georgians in the retail, construction, transport, and restaurant sectors were most affected by the pandemic, says NDI. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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A year into the coronavirus pandemic Georgians remain concerned about the state of the economy and the impact of Covid-19, reads poll results released today by the National Democratic Institute (NDI or the Institute) and CRRC Georgia.
Image: NDI.
A quarter of the population reports either losing their job (13%) or experiencing a salary/income reduction (12%) since the start of the pandemic, while a plurality said they remain unemployed. Georgians in the retail, construction, transport, and restaurant sectors were most affected by the pandemic", NDI reports.
Images: NDI.
NDI says that the public is split when assessing the government’s economic response to the pandemic.
50% assess the government’s economic plan as effective and half of those who received financial assistance report it as being sufficient", says NDI.
In addition, 48% said that financial aid or benefit from the government during the Covid-19 pandemic was sufficient, while 52% said it was not sufficient.
What support can business expect?
The government of Georgia has presented an anti-crisis plan for Georgian businesses in order to ease the burden caused by the coronavirus crisis. The government responded to the demand of the hotels, restaurants, tourist agencies and tour operators in Georgia and decided to postpone payment of property and income tax by four months.
The impact of the coronavirus is rippling through the Georgian economy, but it might take a few months to fully see the fallout in data that track economic performance in Georgia.
The Georgian economy is projected to contract by six per cent in 2020, while in 2021 economic growth is forecast to reach four per cent, says the latest edition of the World Bank’s Economic Update for the region, released today.
A total of 2 billion GEL (about $0.60b/€0.55b) has been allocated to assist the Georgian economy in the tough period caused by the coronavirus global crisis, announces Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia.
Georgia has reported 528 new cases of coronavirus, 299 recoveries and four deaths in the past 24 hours.
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has released the results of its recent polls which show that 54% of Georgians believe that elected officials in the Georgian parliament do not take into account the opinions of the people and 55% believe that MPs serve only their own interests.
As Georgia begins to roll out its vaccination plan, the public remains skeptical; only 35% would choose to receive a vaccine if given the option right now, while 53% said they would not, reads poll results released today by the National Democratic Institute (NDI or the Institute) and CRRC Georgia.
The government of Georgia is going to present a 10-year development plan in May, which will convey the government’s vision of how to emerge from the coronavirus crisis, announces Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.
The latest ‘Europe and Central Asia Economic Update’ published by the World Bank reads that the Georgian economy is unlikely to recover to pre-Covid levels until late 2022. The World Bank says that the Georgian economy is projected to expand to 4% in 2021 and then to firm to 5% in 2022.
The estimated real gross domestic product (GDP) of Georgia declined by 5.1% in February 2021 year-on-year and by 8.3% in January-February of 2021 year-on-year, show preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
The Georgian national currency, the lari, has depreciated in value by 2.6% against the US dollar in the last month. The official exchange rate shows that as of today 1 USD costs 3.4464 GEL (previous rate was 3.4118 GEL) and 1 EUR costs 4.0426 GEL (previous rate was 4.0044 GEL).
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) offered $40 million at the foreign exchange auction today of which $27.5 million was sold, announces the NBG. The average weighted rate was 3.4401.
The Georgian economy is expected to grow by 3.5% in 2021, rebounding with the gradual lifting of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and revival of domestic demand, reads the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Outlook 2021.
The Georgian economy grew 4% year-on-year in March, posting growth for the first time in a year. However average real gross domestic product (GDP) declined 4.2% in the first quarter of 2021 year-on-year, show preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili has said that the 4% growth rate of the economy that was observed in March will increase 'even more' in April, announces the Ministry of Finance of Georgia.
The estimated real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in April 2021 equaled 44.8% year-on-year and 8.1% in January-April of 2021 year-on-year, show preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
The Georgian economy is expected to grow 6.5% in 2021, according to Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili. He added that "the economy is forecast to grow 6.9% in 2022.” He also said that in an optimistic scenario, economic growth in 2021 is projected at 10.2%.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili claims Georgia will be a country whose economy will recover one of the fastest in the post-pandemic period. "There are many factors that actually give us the opportunity to say that the process of economic recovery this year will be fundamentally different", Khutsishvili said.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that in a pessimistic scenario the Georgian economy is expected to grow 7% while in an optimistic scenario it will grow more than 10% this year. The World Bank published the report today, which reads that the Georgian economy is projected to grow 6% in 2021, 5% in 2022 and again 5% in 2023.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili has summed up the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Georgian economy and the government's effort to help citizens as well as businesses to overcome the crisis within the 'Minister's Hour' format at the Parliament of Georgia today.
The estimated real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in May 2021 amounted to 25.8% year-on-year and 11.5% in January-May of 2021 year-on-year, show preliminary data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
Only 13% of the government reserve fund has been spent on the Covid-19 pandemic in Georgia in 2020 and in the six months of 2021, says the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI). The government reserve fund enables the state to cover the costs of unexpected expenses, such as natural disasters, epidemics, ecological and other types of disasters.