Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The Georgian government pledged to take measures to avoid an increase in the prices of goods and services due to the ongoing depreciation of the national currency, lari.

Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister said the government will "tighten its belt" to help the country maintain and enjoy financial stability.

The government’s economic team has already started working with the National Bank to keep the country’s monetary and fiscal policies consistent with each other.

Nodar Khaduri, Finance Minister said Georgia’s falling exchange rate was not unique and the national currencies of all other countries in the region were also depreciating against the greenback.

"We have been working synchronously with the National Bank in an effort to avoid price increases," Khaduri said.

Meanwhile, Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the premier's expression "tightening the belts" did not mean reducing the salaries of public figures or foresee staff cuts at public institutions.

"When we see society affected by the depreciating value of Lari, we are subsequently going to reduce administration costs. As we face 12 percent devaluation, we aim to reduce administration costs by 12 percent accordingly. A detailed plan will be presented this week,” Kvirikashvili said.

Earlier, the Georgian government appealed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for additional financial aid last week in a desire to stabilize the country’s falling currency.

Nevertheless, Khaduri announced that the government will not take a loan from IMF, but will hold meetings with IMF representatives who regularly visit Georgia.

"We will discuss the current economic situation in Georgia with IMF. We are not going to take a loan, but will have consultations with them about other donors. We need a certain amount of money in order to implement different infrastructural projects and not to import it to the state budget,” Khaduri said.

The government’s economic team is now exploring the options of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as possible donor financial institutions, he added.

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