BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.29
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
In 2020 Georgian budget has lost 2.5 billion lari ($766.5 million) in tax revenues due to the economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Minister of Finance Ivane Machavariani, Trend reports via Georgian media.
A total of 4.2 billion lari ($1.2 billion) were spent on other measures to combat the pandemic and mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19.
“The pandemic cost us 7.1 billion lari ($2.1 billion) that is a very strong blow to fiscal indicators. The budget deficit increased to 9.1 percent to GDP, in 2021 it will fall to 7.6 percent. The ratio of public debt to GDP has also grown that crossed the 60 percent mark. It is quite clear how difficult is to plan the budget for 2021,” the minister noted.
According to the minister of finance, the Georgian government has signed agreements with international donor organizations to receive the aid, the total amount of which exceeds $1.9 billion.
"In connection with the pandemic, it became necessary to allocate additional funds, first for health care - for the response to the pandemic, we allocated an additional 420 million lari ($128.7 million) in this area, and in 2021 we plan to allocate 450 million lari ($137.9 million)," he said.
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