Economists argue on whether Georgia needs external help

Georgian economists diverge in their opinions about the Georgia's need for financial help from the international community, and whether the country could overcome the economic crisis on its own.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Georgia's businesses are suffering massive losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. The government has agreed with international donors on the provision of financial help for the country's development in the post-crisis period.

Earlier, Georgia had received billions of dollars from the international community, but there was no result from this, Demur Giorkhelidze, an economist, has noted. According to his version, Georgian economy is experiencing problems, because of the fact that all the existing resources are used by only a quarter. "The main problem is in the irrational economic policy," Mr Giorkhelidze told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On the other hand, as stated by Doctor of Economics Mikhail Tokmazishvili, because of the pandemic, Georgia needs financial help to curb the recession. "Georgia has no such reserves enabling getting out of this situation in the shortest possible time," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Georgia will be able to cope with the situation on its own, if the government implements reforms, changes the structure of the economy and approaches to foreign policy, said Paata Sheshelidze, the president of the New Economic School. "The government is not ready to carry out reforms, and, therefore, follows the beaten track – receiving loans and going on doing what it did. A similar situation was in 2008, when during the five-day war, Georgia received help from the international community and stopped implementing reforms," Mr Sheshelidze said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 17, 2020 at 06:33 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.