PM, Finance Minister outline 2023 plans including finance, debt management strategy

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.

The Government Administration said the meeting had involved a review of 2023 plans for the Ministry.

The major highlights of the plans include:

• Georgia’s showcase as the 2024 host country of the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in South Korea between May 2-5
• An action plan for transferring state enterprises classified as public entities to the treasury service in stages, and preparing public schools for their transfer to the unified accounting system of the treasury in 2024
• Approval of the new medium-term public finance management strategy
• Approval of the updated debt management strategy
• Work on improving management of public finances of municipalities
• Continued work on improving consolidated financial statements based on International Public Sector Accounting Standards principles

The officials also discussed the dynamics of the implementation of Georgia's 2030 Development Strategy, and noted the domestic economic growth rate of the past year.

They pointed to the 2023 projected growth of the gross domestic product at five percent, with the nominal gross domestic product expected to reach ₾80 billion ($30.42bln). 

• Economy Minister expects "positive trends" of growth to be maintained in 2023

Garibashvili and Khutsishvili noted the forecast of the International Monetary Fund that said Georgia would experience "one of the highest economic growth rates in the region and among the European countries" in the medium-term period, with the figure forecast to equal 5.8 percent.

The meeting also discussed upcoming IMF-supported reforms for state enterprises, state investment management and analysis and optimisation of tax expenses.