Inflation Rate to Return to the Pre-Pandemic 3% Index By the End of 2022, Economy Minister Says
By Khatia Bzhalava
Friday, December 17
Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava announced at the plenary sitting of the Parliament of Georgia that the inflation rate in Georgia will return to 3% by the end of 2022 and noted that high inflation is ‘one of the most important issues’ the Georgian population currently faces. She noted that in 2021 the inflation rate in the country ‘instantly tripled,’ due to the global pandemic. “As a result of the coordinated and targeted policy of the government and the National Bank (NBG), the NBG and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the inflation rate will return to the pre-pandemic index of three percent by the end of the next year,” the minister claimed.
Turnava stated that Georgia must focus on the industrial development that would help reduce Georgia’s dependency on export, especially for food products.
According to the minister, 2021 was qualitatively different from the previous 2020, when they did not yet know any other and more effective way to fight the pandemic, other than closing borders and the economy. “In this context, 2021 has become a real breakthrough,” Turnava noted. As the minister stressed, a very important decision was made in the spring when the government refused to impose a lockdown and focused more on vaccination. “We opened the national economy, created a favorable environment for the national currency exchange rate stability, returned predictability to business that makes good precondition for further peaceful development,” the minister said, adding that 2021 is a year of rapid recovery and a good precondition for further peaceful development.
The minister also focused on the issue of poverty in the country and underlined that it is one of the key priorities of the government to overcome this problem. In this regard, she welcomed the recent initiative of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili which will provide jobs for socially vulnerable citizens who are capable of working instead of social assistance. The minister also noted that the government aims to increase the employment rate in Georgia by developing Georgian business and manufacturing.
