Georgian PM: $3.71bln budget increase allowing Gov’t to “develop country even more”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday said the country’s budget had increased by about ₾10 billion ($3.71bln) due to a ₾40 billion ($14.84bln) expansion in the nominal economy since 2021, allowing the Government to “take care of the country's development even more”.

Speaking at the Conference of the Business Association, Kobakhidze highlighted “very good trends and growth across all sectors” were enabling implementation of projects aimed at stimulating the economy and supporting infrastructure development.

Opponents of the Government claim that while the economy is growing, the [benefits] are only going to ‘25 families’. Experts in this field would likely agree with me that this claim is far from the truth”, he said.

The Prime Minister also addressed poverty indicators, noting a reduction from 30 percent in 2012 to 11.8 percent as of last year. While acknowledging the achievement of lifting 680,000 people out of absolute poverty, Kobakhidze emphasised the need to continue addressing the remaining challenges to ensure sustained economic growth and further poverty reduction.

In 2012, 1,120,000 people in Georgia lived below the poverty line. This number has since been reduced to 440,000, meaning 680,000 people have been lifted out of absolute poverty. While this is a significant achievement, the fact that 440,000 people still live below the absolute poverty line remains a major challenge that we must address as effectively as possible”, he said.

The Prime Minister added unemployment in the first quarter of 2021 had been at 21.9 percent, while in the second quarter of 2024 it had decreased to 3.7 percent.

More people are employed and their average salary has increased. In the first quarter of 2021, the average wage was ₾1,256 ($466.09) and now it exceeds ₾2,000 ($742.18). These are the results of four years of economic growth. In total, 146,000 new jobs were created in the last 3.5 years”, Kobakhidze said.

The Prime Minister emphasised “positive” economic indicators, including a 12.5 percent increase in production output compared to the previous year, a 10.3 percent rise in foreign direct investments and “favourable” data related to fiscal consolidation. He mentioned the country's foreign debt, inflation, current account deficit and budget deficit were “all below the target”, indicating a “very good” economic environment for “stable” growth.