Minister of Finance: The impact of the pandemic on the budget for 2020-2021 is 7.2 billion GEL

The impact of the pandemic on the budget for 2020-2021 is 7.2 billion GEL, - the Minister of Finance, Lasha Khutsishvili said in his speech in the format of the "Minister Hour" in the Parliament of Georgia.

"We made a significant intervention to support the business, which aimed to maintain the viability of companies and lead them to the post-pandemic, economic recovery period even with reduced turnover, so that they could easily restore full capacity", - said Lasha Khutsishvili.

According to him, one of the main challenges was to put in place a proper and effective social protection system, which was achieved through the development of social programs.

"Tax deficit amounted to 1.9 billion; Health care spending 0.9 billion; Business support - 3.0 billion GEL; Citizens' social protection measures 1.3 billion; In total, the pandemic cost the budget for 2020-2021 7.2 billion GEL", - said the Minister of Finance.