Economic Press Monitor October 10 - 16, 2021	Days:  02 09 16 23 30

economic & politics

REZONANSI: “INTRODUCTION OF STRICT RESTRICTIONS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY ECONOMIC COLLAPSE”

October 15, 2021 - In recent days, number of COVID-19 new cases in Georgia has reached already a very high level – 5,000 per day, while rate of test positivity has jumped from 4% to 8-10%.

Zviad Kirtava, head of healthcare direction at analytical organization Geocase, says that when only 31% of the population is fully vaccinated, it is not surprising that number of cases has been increased since September, against the background of increased mobility.




NETGAZETI.GE: ““THERE WAS A RISK THAT MONEY WOULD NOT TRANSFERRED TO US” – KAKAURIDZE ON THE EU LOAN REFUSAL”

October 15, 2021 - Giorgi Kakauridze, Georgia’s First Deputy Finance Minister, points that in order to receive macro-financial assistance from the EU, Georgia had to implement 10-12 reforms. He says that all of them were implemented, except for part of the judicial system.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “17% OF THE POPULATION ARE IN HOPE OF LIVING ALLOWANCE”

October 15, 2021 - Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) reported that since start of the COVID-19 pandemic, number of Georgians receiving a living allowance increased by 44.12%.

In particular, number of beneficiaries totaled to 622,923 as of August, making up 16.7% of Georgia’s population.




FORBES GEORGIA: “IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH RATE, GEORGIA IS ON THE 18^TH PLACE IN THE WORLD”

October 15, 2021 - IMF forecasts that Georgia’s economy in 2021 will grow by 7.7% after reduction of 6.2% in 2020. In terms of growth, Georgia ranks the 18^th among 193 countries of the world, the magazine reports.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIA’S INFRASTRUCTURE – INTERVIEW WITH IRAKLI KARSELADZE”

October 13, 2021 - The magazine published an interview with Irakli Karseladze, Georgia’s Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development.

Speaking about construction of 51.6 km of road, including 96 bridges and 53 tunnels, through Rikoti Pass, the Minister calls it the project of the century.




FORBES GEORGIA: “VITAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN GEORGIA”

October 13, 2021 - The magazine reviews the vital infrastructure in Georgia. As the article notes, this infrastructure is developed and more or less efficiently managed, however in rural settlements there are still problems with a number and quality of accessible services.




REZONANSI: “LARI WILL MAINTAIN STABILITY UNTIL END OF THE YEAR, AND THEN COULD START STRENGTHENING”

October 13, 2021 - After essential depreciation, lari has maintaining stability for several months already, and big changes on the forex market have not begun even after the local elections (October 2), the newspaper says. Currently, the exchange rate is within 3.1-3.13 GEL/USD.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ROMAN GOTSIRIDZE – LARI IS THREATENED BY DEPRECIATION, PRICES ARE THREATENED BY GROWTH”

October 11, 2021 - While commenting on Georgia’s draft state budget-2022, MP Roman Gotsiridze from opposition National Movement indicates that the country’s external and internal debt increase by 3.2 billion lari.

“They [the authorities] take the debt with much higher interest than those 75 million EUR were that had to be received interest-free from the EU and which they allegedly refused”, Gotsiridze told the reporters.

ecology & health

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WB ALLOCATED $5M TO GEORGIA FOR PURCHASE OF MEDICINES AGAINST CORONAVIRUS”

October 11, 2021 - The World Bank (WB) allocated $5 million to Georgia for purchase of medicines against COVID-19, the newspaper reports.

The article notes that the WB’s program of additional financing of $35.5 million is currently underway, being launched with aim to facilitate vaccination.

agriculture & food

NETGAZETI.GE: “WHY BREAD IS RISING IN PRICE”

October 12, 2021 - In recent days, bread price in Georgia has increased by 10-15 tetri on average, reported Netgazeti.Ge. Georgian associations of bread producers and producers of grain and wheat connect this to growth of prices on international market, which is caused by anticipation of reduced wheat harvest.

construction

REZONANSI: “WILL INTERIOR RENOVATION OF APARTMENT NEED COORDINATION WITH THE PARTNERSHIP CHAIRMAN? – IS THIS A WAY OUT?”

October 12, 2021 - Mamuka Salukvadze, architect and director of City Institute Georgia, says that in case of renovation of an apartment, it will be difficult to exercise supervision by the government, as this will require additional staff and resources. However, it is possible to strengthen the role of housing partnerships, he believes.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IT IS PLANNED TO INTRODUCE TAX BENEFITS FOR THOSE DEVELOPERS, WHO WILL ENSURE COMPLETION OF UNFINISHED CONSTRUCTION”

October 12, 2021 - For developers, who will ensure dismantling of unfinished construction and erection of a new building on the site, introduction of tax benefits is planned, the newspaper reports. Draft of respective amendments to Georgian Tax Code will be submitted to the Parliament soon.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““UNFORTUNATELY, NO ONE WILL REMEMBER THIS TRAGEDY IN A WEEK, WE “INHERITED” CATASTROPHICALLY DAMAGED HOUSING STOCK””

October 11, 2021 - “We “inherited” a catastrophically damaged housing stock”, says Irakli Rostomashvili, chairman of Georgian Developers Association.

“In case of a 4-5-point earthquake, more than half of Tbilisi and other major cities will turn into ruins”, Rostomashvili points.




TABULA: “PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE ON BATUMI: THE ACCUSED BROKE DURABILITY OF CARCASS, WHICH CAUSED DESTRUCTION”

October 11, 2021 - On October 8, part of residential building collapsed on May 26 Street, in Batumi, killing 9 people. Specialists suppose that other part of the building may collapse too.