Finance Minister: GDP per capita forecast to exceed $7,900 by 2023
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Wednesday said the gross domestic product per capita figure was projected to exceed $7,900 by 2023. Photo: Ministry of Finance
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Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Wednesday said the gross domestic product per capita figure was projected to exceed $7,900 by 2023.
Khutsishvili made the comment at a discussion of the final draft of the 2023 budget at the Parliament, the Ministry of Finance said.
In the coming years, the economic growth rate is expected to be maintained at an average of five percent, while the GDP deflator forecast is three percent”, the Minister said, noting the numbers would mean the nominal value of GDP would increase from ₾79.7 billion ($30bln) in 2023 to ₾101.2 billion ($38bln) by 2026 and GDP per capita would exceed $7,900 by 2023 and $10,000 by 2026.
He also added that while inflation remained one of the main challenges this year both domestically and across the world, next year "with the exhaustion of the base effect, a significant decrease in the rate of inflation is expected".
The average rate of inflation is predicted at the level of 5.3 percent [in 2023], although it will fall below the four percent mark by the end of the year", he pointed out.
Khutsishvili also announced ministries that would receive higher funding next year, highlighting the financing of the Ministry of Health was increased by ₾59.8 million ($22.53mln) from the previous draft of the budget and now exceeded ₾6.85 billion ($2.58bln).
Pension for all categories of pensioners is set to increase, while the budget also includes increased social assistance for socially vulnerable individuals. The Government will also raise assistance for socially vulnerable children to ₾200 ($75) by allocating ₾65 million ($24.48 mln) in this direction. The assistance totalled ₾50 ($18.83) two years ago.
In addition, employees of the private sector will have their maternity leave supplement doubled to ₾2,000 ($734) starting in January, while public school teachers will receive full pay during their maternity leave starting next year.
The financing of the Ministry of Education will increase by ₾52.2 million ($19.66mln) compared to the previous draft and cross the ₾2.30 billion ($0.87bln) mark. The money will be distributed in the following categories:
- ₾30 million for public school financing
- ₾32 million for setting up computer laboratories at schools
- ₾2 million for resource officers
The Ministry of Infrastructure will receive ₾3.33 billion ($1.25bln) next year, which is ₾355 million ($133.72mln) more than it was considered in the previous draft of the budget. Of the money, ₾200 million ($75.34mln) will be allocated for the tourism sector, ₾100 million ($37.67mln) to construction and renovation of kindergartens in various regions, ₾25 million ($9.42mln) to works on infrastructure for hosting the 2025 Winter Youth Olympic Games and ₾30 million ($11.30mln) to the Renewed Regions state programme.
The budget of Georgia’s Black Sea region of Adjara has tripled over the past 10 years and crossed the ₾50 billion ($18.08bln) threshold, Tornike Rizhvadze, the head of the regional government, revealed on Tuesday.
Employees of the private sector in Georgia will have their maternity leave supplement doubled to ₾2,000 ($734) starting in January, while public school teachers will receive full pay during their maternity leave starting next year, prime minister Irakli Garibashvili announced on Monday.
Priority directions of the 2023 state budget were discussed on Friday in a meeting of the government's economic council led by the prime minister Irakli Garibashvili.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday announced an increase in pensions, salaries for school personnel and state funding for health and social programmes, while also announcing the construction of a residential block with 7,000 flats for internally displaced families and renovation of 500 public schools would begin “soon”.
The Georgian Parliament has approved the updated 2023 Georgian state budget, with the document planned with an economic growth forecast of five percent, the Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday.
Georgia's Black Sea region of Adjara received $106 million in foreign direct investments in the first nine months of 2022, Tornike Rizhvadze, the Head of the Government of Adjara, said in his end-of-year summary of his office’s work on Thursday.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Monday said the country’s economy had grown by 10 percent in the first 11 months of 2022, with the rate expected to be maintained in the final figures of the year.
Plans for approving debt and public finance management strategy, changes for state enterprises and schools were among topics for this year, discussed by the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Tuesday.
Georgian Deputy Finance Minister Mikheil Dundua on Wednesday said the country had showed “best results” among 193 countries in four “important indicators” in the updated 2022-2028 assessment and long-term forecast of the International Monetary Fund.