The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not issue a press release regarding its visit to Georgia—this information was confirmed to the BMGTV's program Analitycs with Elene Kvanchilashvili by the IMF representation in Georgia.
It appears that the IMF has nothing to say at this stage. Despite multiple attempts by Analytics to secure an interview with either Alejandro Hajdenberg, the head of the visiting IMF mission, or Andrew Jewell, the IMF's permanent representative in Georgia, the interviews did not take place, despite the IMF’s efforts both in its Tbilisi and Washington offices.
Although the government agencies under the ruling Georgian Dream party have been sending press releases with considerable frequency, these statements contained only general information rather than detailed insights. One thing is certain—and even these official releases reinforce this view: the future of the IMF program was not discussed during meetings with the Georgian side. From the outset, the IMF made it explicitly clear that the mission was not visiting to negotiate a program with the Georgian Dream government.
It is notable that the IMF set this condition just days after a *Reuters* article reported that Georgia still wanted a program with the IMF. The article quoted Georgia’s Deputy Finance Minister. Later, Minister of Economy Levan Davitashvili clarified that the Georgian Dream would have its own terms—if the list of reforms required by the IMF did not fully align with the government's interests, they would continue without the program.
Two reforms from the program approved in 2022 did not align with Georgian Dream’s interests: one related to the independence of the National Bank of Georgia, and the other to the corporatization of state-owned enterprises.
Due to the violation of these two key conditions, the IMF suspended its program with Georgia, and it remains frozen to this day. The program is set to expire in June 2025.
