Government to Present Draft Anti-Crisis Plan on April 24
The government of Georgia will present a draft anti-crisis plan on April 24, the Prime Minister’s Spokesperson Irakli Chikovani said at a briefing at the government administration on Tuesday.
The plan aims to gradually reopen the economy.
The anti-crisis measures will include steps for targeted social assistance and measures to help businesses affected by the virus recover from the crisis.
In parallel with the fight against the epidemic, the Government is routinely working on the Economic Recovery Plan, which is being gradually presented. Essential measures have been implemented at the inception phase, including a utility bill payment for the general public in the first 3 months of the pandemic; hedging of commodity prices on 9 key food products to avoid an increase in prices; introduction of tax concessions for the private sector; deterrence of loan repayment liability of individuals and corporate sector for 3 months.
The next phase included external financial resources of over 3 BLN USD raised for the economy of Georgia from international partners and donors, which has been made possible as a result of an unprecedented performance of the Government of Georgia.
It was stated at a meeting of Economic Recovery Team today that the Government of Georgia will continue to be equally consistent towards developing a post-crisis plan and during gradual economic re-opening so that harm caused by the global pandemic is minimized to the extent possible.
Economic Recovery Team operating at the Inter-Agency Coordination Council of the Government of Georgia under the leadership of the Prime Minister of Georgia with an engagement of respective Parliamentary Committees of the legislature and central bank of the country is regularly holding meetings via video-conferencing for a more effective and coordinated management of the process.
Within this format and along with cabinet ministers of the economic team, following officials are engaged in the process: MP Archil Talakvadze, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia; MP Roman Kakulia, Chairman of the Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy Committee of the Parliament of Georgia; MP Irakli Kovzanadze, Chairman of the Fiscal Committee of the Parliament of Georgia; MP David Songhulashvili, Chairman of the European Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia; MP Nino Tsilosani, Chairwoman of the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament of Georgia; MP Otar Danelia, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee of the Parliament of Georgia; Koba Gvenetadze, President of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG); Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi; Mikheil Daushvili, Business Ombudsman of Georgia; Advisers to the Prime Minister of Georgia: Sozar Subari and Beka Liluashvili; Giorgi Cherkezishvili, Secretary to the Investors Council of Georgia and Administration of the President of Georgia.
In addition, the government intends to gradually lift certain restrictions starting from April 27 throughout the extended period of the state of emergency, including the ban on driving private vehicles.
By Ana Dumbadze