USD 3 billion is needed

The World Bank estimates that Georgia will need USD 3 billion over the coming 3 years to recharge its economy and rebuild investor confidence.

The postwar situation is pretty grave. The Government thinks the state budget will be USD 300-400 million short of the expected investment income. In the first half of 2008 the country received almost USD 1.5 billion in investments. GDP growth was 8.5 %.

Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze, in his article for the Daily Telegraph in the UK, stated that Georgia would not let its friends down and would recover from the present situation and continue on its way to Euro Atlantic integration. Of course he meant that these steps could be taken with the help of the country’s friends.

The assistance Georgia will receive will be quite solid. The USA has promised to allot USD 1 billion, the EU EURO 500 million and the IMF a soft loan of USD 750 million. Therefore more than USD 2 billion has already been promised. The rest will come from other sources and other countries on the back of this support. But the most important thing, as all parties acknowledge, will be to spend this assistance wisely.