BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 6
By Tamilla Mammadova - Trend:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Georgia are stepping up cooperation as the country's economy faces the challenge of the coronavirus spread, Trend reports referring to EBRD.
The Government of Georgia recently announced an economic stimulus package to support the economy consisting of two parts, which include benefits provided by the banks in terms of restructuring loan repayments and assistance allocated from the budget.
EBRD has made available emergency Solidarity Package of 1 billion euro for its existing clients across 38 economies, including clients in Georgia.
Joining forces was the focus of a telephone call between Georgian Minister of Finance Ivane Matchavariani, and EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patrone and Regional Director for Caucasus Catarina Bjorlin Hansen. EBRD officials pledged urgent financing to help local firms deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Patrone praised the close cooperation between EBRD and the ministry and all the steps the Georgian government is taking to deal with the crisis. Patrone also reconfirmed the bank’s strong commitment to supporting the country’s economy, especially in times of crisis.
As Georgia faces new economic challenges, the EBRD’s support includes measures such as emergency liquidity, working capital and trade finance. The bank is working with its long-standing partners - commercial banks to support access to finance for the private sector, especially for the small and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, the parties discussed speeding up the development of several projects to secure job creation. For example, the bank is currently working on designing a new framework to support all Georgian municipalities across the country with improved access to infrastructure. EBRD is also working to support the upgrade of the electricity grid to further support the renewable energy generation sector of Georgia.
EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Georgia. Since the start of its operations in the country, the bank has invested over 3.7 billion euros in 249 projects in the financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors, with 87 percent of these investments in the private sector.
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