TBILISI, Georgia, May 4. Georgia's total public debt is quite stable and is about 40 percent, head of ADB's regional cooperation department for Central and West Asia, Lyaziza Sabyrova said during the briefing at ADB's annual meeting in Tbilisi, Trend reports.
“We are looking at real numbers, not nominal numbers, because the nominal inflation rate is coming down, but the discount rate is still there. The real interest rate is still positive, and that, of course, leads to a higher cost of capital for businesses in the private sector. But from a macroeconomic point of view, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia and the Ministry of National Economy are doing a very nice job. So far, for example, the total debt is quite stable and is around 40 percent,” she said.
According to her, in fact, the situation has returned to the pre-pandemic level, which is a good sign.
“And the overall deficit is also about 3 percent. These are what we call boring indicators, and that's a good thing. We don't want any volatility, high excesses, or shocks. We have enough shocks, external shocks, and the goal of the government is to smooth it out and reduce vulnerability and uncertainty for the private sector and for the economy,” Lyaziza Sabyrova explained.
A meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank kicked off today in Tbilisi. The opening marks the official start of the ADB's annual meeting. The event is attended by a guest of honor from the organizing country.
To note, the theme of the 57th Annual Meeting, which will be held from May 2 to 5, is "Bridge to the Future."
The annual meeting is an opportunity for ADB Governors to address development issues and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region. Several thousand participants regularly join the meeting, including finance ministers, central bank governors, senior government officials, private sector representatives, representatives of international and civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media.
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