“High economic growth allows us to increase the mixed budget by 3 billion GEL and the state budget by 2.5 billion GEL. There is no ministry that has not received additional funding — growth is observed across all sectors, including social programs, economic development, and security structures. At the same time, all key economic parameters essential for the country’s development have been maintained and remain within normal ranges”, - Paata Kvizhinadze, Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, stated at the plenary session upon the deliberation of the draft State Budget 2026.

 

According to him, according to economic parameters, Georgia is one of the leading countries.

 

“With its current economic growth, Georgia will rank first not only among EU member states but also among candidate countries. In terms of state debt, Georgia will rank 6th among EU countries and 3rd among candidate countries. By budget deficit, Georgia will hold the 2nd position among candidate countries and the 8th among EU member states. The International Monetary Fund also notes that such growth is expected to continue, and within 5–6 years, Georgia will be able to catch up with the countries of Eastern Europe”, - he stated, calling on the opposition to act in a constructive manner. 

 

As he stated, the debates will focus on economic growth rather than hindering the state’s development. 

 

“Some claim that tax revenues were not fulfilled — but what does “not fulfilled” even mean? We discussed this issue in detail during the sittings of all committees, and it is clearly stated in the budget draft that both total revenues and tax revenues have been met. As for pensions, in 2020, Parliament adopted the Law on Pension Indexation. The pension increase is no longer dependent on the government’s discretion — it is determined automatically based on inflation and economic growth. To put it into perspective: a 10 GEL increase in pensions requires about 100 million GEL; a 200 GEL increase, as proposed by the opposition, would require 2 billion GEL. Therefore, when someone says that pensions should be increased, they must also specify what should be cut — which budget lines or subprograms should lose funding. These are serious amounts of money, and any proposal of this scale must be properly justified”, - he addressed the opponents.

 

As for the remarks and recommendations on the draft budget, there are 22 remarks by the Parliament and the final version of the draft will be re-submitted to the Parliament before December 1 with most of them considered.