BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.21
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The Georgian authorities managed to reduce the budget deficit in 2019 to a historic low, said Minister of Finance of Georgia Ivane Machavariani, speaking during the "ministerial hour" in the Georgian parliament, Trend reports via Georgian media.
According to the draft budget for 2019, the budget deficit was planned in the amount of 2.4 percent of GDP.
"By mobilizing additional revenues, we were able to reduce the budget deficit to a historic low of 2.1 percent of GDP," Machavariani said.
“In 2019, the forecast for the application of capital investment was 3.7 billion lari ($1.3 billion). Due to donor-funded projects and the implementation of the municipal project plan, it was possible to use 470 million lari ($166.8 million) more. In general, 4.18 billion lari ($1.4 billion) was allocated for capital expenditures in 2019," said Machavariani.
The minister noted that the application of capital investment was due to the implementation of a large amount of construction work.
Meanwhile, IMF noted that high growth in budget revenues allowed the government to achieve a record increase in public investment (8 percent of GDP) without increasing the budget deficit (2.1 percent of GDP).
According to IMF, the budget for 2020 is properly aimed at a neutral fiscal position and it is expected that the budget deficit will increase slightly to 2.4 percent of GDP.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356