State to Spend 1.1 billion GEL on Assistance to Businesses & Population

The portfolio of targeted assistance to businesses and the population will cost 1.1 billion GEL, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated today following the announcement of tightened and expanded restrictions aimed at slowing down the spread of the coronavirus.  

Within the framework of the targeted assistance, the 300 GEL assistance program for self-employed persons will be restored.  Giorgi Gakharia said that the registration of people who are informally employed has already started and about 120,000 beneficiaries will benefit from this program. He added that the assistance program will also be launched for 6 months from January 1 for people who have lost their jobs and they will receive a total of 1200 GEL in 6 months.

Based on the government’s decision, socially vulnerable families and the families who have 3 or more children under the age of 16, will receive 100 GEL assistance every month for 6 months. 

Further, the state will subsidize the interest rates for restaurant businesses that have bank loans. 

The Prime Minister pointed out that restaurants have suffered the highest loss along with the tourism sector.

"Along with the tourism sector, the restaurant business is the most affected. So we will activate the effective tool of assistance that we used with hotels - to subsidize the interest rate for their loan liabilities for 6 months," Gakharia said.

By Ana Dumbadze 

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