BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.1
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The first isolation in Georgia cost 550 million lari ($165.8 million), said Lasha Kavtaradze, an economist at Galt & Taggart, Trend reports via Georgian media.
According to him, the first blocking, which lasted from March 21 to May 22, basically coincided with the period of the second quarter, when the Georgian economy contracted by 13.2 percent.
“Since the lockdown was announced in April, at Easter, the country suffered losses of up to 300 million lari ($90.4 million), losses of up to 250 million lari ($75.4 million) in May and a significant reduction in public capital expenditures in May,” said Kavtaradze.
As for the contribution of this amount to the economy, an economist at Galt & Taggart says that it was under the influence of lockdown that Georgia's economy fell by 5.4 percent.
“At that time, isolation was not only in Georgia but also in the world, as well as in the countries-trade partners of Georgia. According to our calculations, lockdown reduced the economy by about 5.4 percent, that is, if it had not been for lockdown in the second quarter, the economy would have shrunk not by 13.2 percent, but by 7.9 percent.
"In the end, we can draw a parallel with a country like Sweden, which did not use lockdown at all, but the economy contracted at least 9 percent in the second quarter. That is, if we had not announced the lockdown, our economy would have contracted because there was a delay in the supply chains, which affected many macroeconomic parameters,” said Kavtaradze.
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