PM highlights economic growth, “historically low” unemployment at Gov’t meeting

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday told a Government meeting his team had "done everything” to ensure “peace, stability and high economic growth” in the country, while pointing to 2022 economic growth numbers and “historically low” levels of poverty and unemployment in the country.

The Government Administration cited Garibashvili as saying 220,000 jobs had been created in Georgia over the past two years, with the PM also noting last year’s 10.1 percent growth, which he said meant double-digit figures had been achieved in the area in both 2022 and 2021.

He called the numbers a "result of the thoughtful, reasonable policy of our Government", while acknowledging the “double-digit” inflation as one of the Government’s “main challenges” but pointing to its global dimension.

Last year there was a period when inflation reached 12 and 13 percent, but this was not only in our country. This is a global challenge, a problem that began during the coronavirus pandemic, then continued after the war in Ukraine”, he said.

Despite this, we managed to stabilise the inflation rate. In particular, the current inflation is already [down to] 9.4 percent, which can be said to give us a reason for optimism, but this is not enough", Garibashvili added.

The Government's task is to reduce inflation "as much as possible" as prices “remain a problem and a challenge that worries the world and our people”, he told his cabinet while also pointing to a recent “stability” of the national currency and the “many large-scale projects” planned for this year.