BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 10
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgia’s budget has funds for the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, said Georgian Deputy Finance Minister Giorgi Kakauridze, Trend reports via Georgian media.
He made the remark at a meeting of an economic group under the Interdepartmental Coordination Council, at which the presentation of the country's anti-crisis budget was held.
According to him, ultimately, the expenditure side of the budget will increase to 1.4 billion lari ($471.2 million).
“As for the part of budget cuts, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have significantly reduced the expenditure side of the budget, both at the central level and in municipalities. This allowed us to reduce the expenditure side of the budget by approximately 600 million lari ($2.01 million). Current expenses have been reduced by 301 million lari ($101.3 million), capital - by 299 million lari ($100.6 million), which is 600 million lari ($2.01 million)," he said.
Kakauridze said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, additional costs will amount to 1.92 billion lari ($646.3 million). As a result, despite the reduction, the expenditure side of the budget will increase to 1.4 billion lari ($471.2 million).
"In particular, 125 million lari ($42.07 million) was allocated for expenses related to treatment. We allocated 44 million lari ($14.8 million) for payment for services in quarantine zones. With regard to health care costs associated with the purchase of tests, the necessary materials for treatment, personal protective equipment, etc., the budget has 151 million lari ($50.8 million). This amount is also foreseen for the second wave of a pandemic that could happen. And the budget is fully prepared in order to finance the relevant expenses,” said Kakauridze.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.
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