Georgia’s economy has practically stopped, MP says

The country’s economy has practically stopped, as the GDP growth in the country totaled just 0.8% in January 2016, says Zurab Japaridze, one of the leaders of “Girchi,” a new political NGO.

“There was nearly zero economic growth. Economy has stopped, actually. Look at the economic growth of 2015 – it was 2.8%. The government representatives said then we had the highest economic growth in the region. It was not true either…In January export totaled 22%, import -25%, amid 25$ decline of foreign trade. The number of new enterprises has decreased by 18%, which means that people do not start up business in the country. Price hikes averaged 5.6% in January. What happened to lari has affected nearly every family,” Japaridze said.

The parliamentarian said that this February the spending from the state treasury was almost by 200 million lari (nearly $81 million) more than incomes.  “The government spends more than it can afford in such economic situation,” Japaridze said. In his words, when the balance is exhausted, the country will face serious problems. In Jan-Feb 2016, the budget revenues decreased by 163 million lari ($66 million) year on year, the oppositionist said.

Zurab Japaridze urged the government to reduce taxes and curb red tape.