BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 12
Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The total expenditures of the state budget of Georgia for the fight against the direct and indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 amounted to 7.2 billion lari ($2.2 billion), said Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili, Trend reports referring to the Georgian media.
The minister stressed that the pandemic has led to a significant change in the structure of budget expenditures: against the background of a record reduction in government revenues, costs for health care, social assistance, business support and so on, began to grow.
“Tax cuts amounted to 1.9 billion lari ($602.9 million), healthcare costs increased by 0.9 billion lari ($285.5 million), business support programs amounted to three billion lari ($951.9 million), measures of social protection of citizens - 1.3 billion lari ($412.5 million). In total, in 2020-2021, the pandemic cost the budget 7.2 billion lari ($2.2 billion),” Khutsishvili said.
According to him, the financial support of all anti-crisis measures would have been impossible without the help of international partners. The government of Georgia received $2.1 billion ($666.3 million) from donor organizations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and further restore the country's economy.
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