BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 29
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The draft 2020 state budget of Georgia reads that the 2020 expenditures will be 14.2 billion lari ($4.8 billion) while the economic growth rate is projected to be 5 percent next year, Trend reports via Georgian media outlets.
The expected USD/lari exchange rate is predicted to be 2.95 and the annual inflation is set at 3 percent.
According to the draft already submitted by the government, the budget receipts will increase by 1.2 billion lari ($407 million), of which 675 lari million ($229 million) comes from tax revenues and 570 million lari ($193.5 million) from public debt.
The budget expenses will increase by 1 billion lari, with the largest amount, 451 million lari ($153.1 million), will go to increased social spending.
Administrative expenses will increase by 194 million lari ($65.8 million) and remuneration expenses will increase by 91 million lari ($30.9 million). In total, the administrative expenses will be 2.9 billion lari ($980 million).
Moreover, 76 percent of the increased remuneration expense comes from three agencies: the Ministry of Internal Affairs - 30 million lari ($10.1 million), the Central Election Commission - 20 million lari ($6.7 million), and the Ministry of Defense - 20 million lari ($6.7 million).
Funding for the Universal Healthcare Program will not increase, with 754 million lari ($256 million) still allocated. However, this year's expenses show that the program will need additional funding of about 40 million lari ($13.5 million).
Employee numbers in budgetary organizations will increase by 111 persons. Also, there will be a significant change in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, with the number of employees in the Ministry of Internal Affairs increasing by 1,000, while the number of employees in the Ministry of Defense will decrease by 1,250.
In addition to this, from 2020, state pensions will be increased by 20-50 lari and salaries of public kindergarten employees by 100 lari, teachers by 150 lari, police officers by 125 lari, and a number of doctors will receive 100 lari more per month.
In 2020, the debt of the Government of Georgia will increase by 1,757 million lari, of which 856 million lari ($290.6 million) will be domestic debt and 901 million lari ($305.9 million) will be foreign. At the end of 2020, the public debt will reach 22.7 billion lari ($7.71 billion), which will be 46.8 percent of the projected GDP.
(1 USD = 2.94 GEL on October 29)