Georgian parliament passes budget for 2013

The Georgian parliament approved the budget for 2013, giving it 80 votes. The parliamentary minority skipped the voting.

Budget income in 2013 will total 7.422 billion lari, expenses 7.255 billion lari. 6.92 billion lari of income will come from taxes, 202.5 million from grants, 300 million lari from other sources, 100 million lari from privatization.

Social expenses grew by 630 million lari. All pensions will total 125 lari on April 1, equal to pensions of people aged over 67 years. Pensions will further increase to 150 lari on September 1. 68 million lari will be granted for the basic insurance package of the uninsured population. Universal insurance will be introduced on July 1 with 163 million lari provided by the budget.

Financing of the parliament increased 1.5-fold to 60 million lari. The president and his administration will receive 8.9 million lari of financing, chancellery 11.8 million lari. The president’s reserve fund will be financed with 10 million lari, compared with 50 million this year. The government’s reserve fund will total 50 million lari, compared with 70 million. The National Security Council had its budget cut from 21 million lari to 1.8 million lari.

The economic growth will total 7%, nominal GDP value 29.28 billion lari, budget deficit will total 2.8% of the GDP, maximum state debt 32.8%.

$1 = 1.6548 lari.

Adapted from Vestnik Kavkaza