The Minister of Finance of Georgia, Lasha Khutsishvili declares, that "one can not find many countries in the world where the budget deficit in the election year is down from 2.8% to 2.5%, and the debt level - from 40%-39% to 38%".
During the discussion of the 2024 budget project in the Parliament, Khutsishvili responded to several statements made by the opposition in the hall in his summary speech.
"Today, in some questions and speeches, the opinion was expressed that the presented budget of 2024 is an election budget. This is not the first time we hear such a statement. We have heard a similar assessment in 2021-2022 and in previous years as well. Perhaps you yourself like this budget and express your approval in this way. You say that this is an election budget. However, it is forgotten that the budget, in addition to expenses, has very important parameters. The 2024 budget parameters presented today are indeed different from many countries (many countries are going through the budget approval process right now). You won't find many countries in the world where the budget deficit in an election year is down from 2.8% to 2.5%, and the debt level - from 40%-39% to 38%. I understand that this may be part of the budget assessment, however, it is very important to see how structurally healthy our budget is in the reality, in the difficult geopolitical situation that surrounds us and in which Georgia cannot be an exception," said Lasha Khutsishvili.
According to the Minister, the budget is always focused on the medium-term, 3-4 year period.
"Some data were compared with 2012 and the question was asked - what has increased three times? I will tell you what has increased three times and more. In the direction of health care - health care programs and expenses that are financed by the budget today and were not financed then, have increased not three times, but five times and more. Teachers' salaries have increased 4.5 times, policemen's and soldiers' salaries have increased 2 times and more. The average salary in the public and private sectors has increased approximately 2.5 times. On average, pensions have increased by three times. About 2.9 times for the first category, 3.3 times for the second category. In all the areas we talked about, sometimes the funding, programs and compensations have increased 4-5 times. Another important parameter is poverty, which was 30% in 2012. This indicator has reached 15%, that is, it has been halved. Of course, 15% is quite a large number in absolute terms, and it is important to reduce it further. The most important formula for reducing poverty is economic growth. I am sure that the 2024 budget will ensure that the economy of Georgia will continue to grow at a high rate, as it was in the past years (double-digit economic growth) with a prediction of 6.5% growth for the current year, which will ultimately improve the life of every citizen in Georgia," said the Minister of Finance.
