Finance Minister, ADB officials discuss structural, economic reforms
The projects implemented by the ADB in Georgia and their significance in various fields such as energy, water supply, road infrastructure were also discussed at the meeting, along with the exchange of views regarding ongoing reforms in the country. Photo: Georgian Finance Ministry
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Reforms planned in state-owned enterprises, energy market development, energy security and development of human capital were in the focus of a meeting between Lasha Khutsishvili, the Georgian Finance Minister, Yevgeniy Zhukov, the Director General for Central and West Asia of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Shane Rosenthal, the ADB Country Director for Georgia, on Friday.
During the meeting, Georgian Government’s cooperation with the bank was pointed out in the implementation of structural and economic reforms in the country, with participants expressing the hope the ADB would continue to support Georgia in the coming years, the Finance Ministry said.
Khutsishvili, Zhukov and Rosenthal also talked about the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, which Russia began last month, and discussed its impact on the economic development of the world, the Black Sea region and Georgia.
The Georgian Minister informed ADB officials about the country’s macroeconomic parametres, emphasising the importance of a further monitoring and analysis of the data.
The projects implemented by the ADB in Georgia and their significance in various fields such as energy, water supply, road infrastructure were also discussed at the meeting, along with the exchange of views regarding ongoing reforms in the country.
Georgia has received a total of $3.92 billion worth of loans from ADB and undertaken technical assistance projects worth $28.9 million since 2007.
The ADB’s 2021 Outlook predicts a 6.5 percent growth for Georgia’s economy this year.
The current foreign exchange rates show concerns about the Georgian lari depreciation are “groundless,” Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said on Thursday.
Khutsishvili asserted all sources of currency inflow in the country, including export and tourism, were “functional” and “growing.”
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