BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 29
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgian Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili says that if necessary the government will subsidize the increase in food prices again, Trend reports via Georgian media.
'If we see a critical need, we may need to intervene to balance these market processes. We must act according to the situation. I think the state will respond with full responsibility to protect the interests of the population", Davitashvili said.
In the spring of this year, the government of Georgia subsidized nine food products and allocated 10 million lari (about $3 million) from the budget for this reason. The products subsidized were: rice, pasta, sunflower oil, flour, sugar, wheat, buckwheat, beans, milk powder, and its derivatives.
The latest inflation data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) shows that in August 2020 the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages have decreased in Georgia month-on-month by 0.5 percent. As for annual inflation, prices increased in the group of food and non-alcoholic beverages (+9.2 percent), alcoholic beverages, and tobacco (+8.9 percent).
Meanwhile, the lari has been continuing to lose value against the USD and as the National Bank of Georgia explains the reason is an increased number of new coronavirus cases in Georgia and the upcoming parliamentary elections.
As of today, 1 USD costs 3.3203 lari, while 1 euro costs 3.8708 lari.
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