Government to Cut Defense Funding

(Tbilisi, July 9, 2003, Civil Georgia) – As a result of the cutting of budgetary expenditures the Defense, Interior, Security Ministries and other defense bodies of the country will lack 20 million Lari (USD 4,6 million).

Roman Gotsiridze head of the Budgetary Office at the Georgian Parliament said at the news briefing today that the cutting of the budgetary expenditures is one of the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund.

Recently Georgian Defense Ministry expressed protest against the Finance Ministry for lack of finances that extremely reduces the country’s defense capabilities.

IMF’s mission that visited Georgia on June 24-July 7 issued a memorandum listing recommendations the Georgian authorities should fulfill before mid-August.

Besides cutting of the budgetary expenditures by 95 million Lari (USD 44 million), the IMF also recommends to add pension and state-sector wages backlog for 1998-2000 to the country’s domestic debt; to increase electricity tax and to adopt a new tax code.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)