Beso Namchavadze, economist of Transparency International Georgia declares, it would be better if the government increases salaries in the public sector not from the beginning of 2022, but from the second half of the year. He cites the 2022 budget deficit and foreign debt as the reasons for this.
The point is the First Deputy Minister of Finance has repeatedly said that they are trying to find financial resources to increase salaries in the public sector, while considering the draft budget for 2022 at the parliament.
"After the presentation of the draft budget, the First Deputy Minister of Finance made a statement in the parliament that in general, they are thinking about increasing salaries in the public sector, but at present, this is not possible.
It is clear that wages in the public sector must increase, especially when the country has such high inflation and real wages are declining, but unfortunately, we are still in a situation when there is no money for that. The budget is projected at a deficit of 4%, while the ratio of public debt to GDP is 52%, the GEL exchange rate is not stable and has been depreciating in recent days.
“Therefore, we advise the government not to increase the salaries from the beginning of the year and wait until the second half of 2022, for example, from July, if there will be an opportunity to increase the salaries of public sector employees”, Namchavadze said.
