BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 4
By Maryana Akhmedova - Trend:
Minister of Finance of Georgia Lasha Khutsishvili spoke about the main parameters of the draft budget for 2022, which has been submitted to the Georgian Parliament, Trend reports, citing Georgian media.
According to the document, real GDP growth is expected to reach 6.0 percent by 2022, and an average of 5.5 percent in the coming years. The updated forecast of economic growth for the current year is 9.5 percent.
Georgia revised forecasts of consolidated budget revenues in nominal terms for 2022 to 15.1 million Georgian lari ($4.8 million).
The forecast of tax revenues for 2022 will increase by 2.2 million Georgian lari ($702,875), or by 17.6 percent, compared to the 2021 forecast.
Tax revenues are predicted to be 23.5 percent of GDP in 2022 and will remain at the same level in the following years. The budget deficit, which is one of the most important indicators, will amount to 4.3 percent of GDP in 2022.
The current expenditure volume is projected at 14.2 billion Georgian lari ($4.5 billion), which is 22.0 percent of GDP. The same benchmark will be maintained in 2023 and will decrease to the pre-pandemic mark in 2024-2025.
The debt limit of the Georgian Government, including the PPP projects, will be 52.7 percent of GDP by the end of 2022.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgian Government debt amounted to 60 percent of GDP, and Georgia was able to reduce the debt level by about 7.3 percentage points in the first year of economic recovery, which is important for both domestic and foreign investors, said Lasha Khutsishvili.
“This is the initial version of the draft budget for 2022, which is based on the existing parameters. The final version of the budget will be submitted to the Parliament in accordance with the mentioned parameters and comments," the minister said.
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