Georgia's Economic Outlook 2020
GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-CRISIS STIMULUS PLAN
SUPPORT TO INDIVIDUALS
Individuals who lost jobs during the pandemic will receive a monthly
allowance of GEL 200 for a period of six months
Individuals with monthly salary of GEL 750, who have not been laid-off
during the pandemic, will be exempt from income tax payments for the
next six months; In case of monthly salary of GEL 1,500, the exemption
will apply to the GEL 750 tax base
Self-employed or unemployed individuals who are able to prove that they
lost income due to the pandemic outbreak, will receive GEL 300 as a one-
off assistance
Socially disadvantaged groups (320,000 people), as well as adults and
children with disabilities (40,000 people), will be entitled to a monthly
financial assistance of GEL 600 for the next six months
Three-month utility payments (electricity, water and sanitation charges
for more than 1.2 million families and natural gas payments for more than
670,000 families) of GEL 150 million will be subsidised by the
Government
With the support of the local commercial banks, retail clients were given
the opportunity to defer loan payments for three months; 600,000
citizens have already benefited from this measure
REOPENING TIMELINE
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
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Georgian authorities have mobilised US$3.0 billion financing from the
International Monetary Fund (the "IMF") and other international partners
(US, EU, World Bank, KFW, AFD, EBRD, EIB, ADB, etc.) to respond
effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic associated economic crisis.
Georgia's long-lasting ties with these institutions, prudent economic
policymaking of recent years and the country's aspiration to democratic
changes made this support from long-standing partners possible.
Of this funding, US$1.5 billion (9.9% of GDP) is earmarked for the public
sector and US$1.5 billion for the private sector.
The IMF's financing is c.US$400 million, of which US$200 million will be
made available immediately to the budget, US$100 million to the
National Bank of Georgia (the "NBG") in the second half of 2020, and
another US$100 million in 2021.
With this support, the estimated stimulus in 2020 will be substantial at
11-15% of GDP, which will help to finance healthcare and macroeconomic
stabilisation initiatives.
On 24 April 2020, the Prime Minister of Georgia presented a timeline for gradually lifting the coronavirus-related restrictions and resuming economic activity. The
reopening plan commenced on 27 April 2020 and will be executed in six phases, two weeks per stage, depending on the epidemiological situation in the country. On 7
May 2020, the Prime Minister announced an update to the plan, with target to re-open Georgia's borders to foreign tourists from 1 July 2020, while domestic tourism
will resume from June 15th. Detailed Tourism Recovery plan was presented as a top priority with GEL 200 million allocated to the industry initiatives and aim to promote
Georgia as a safe destination, which will be shortly followed by support schemes for agriculture, construction and development, and anti-crisis actions in education.View entire presentation